


Lies and truth

by Fleppy85



Category: Batwoman (TV 2019)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:36:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24964588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fleppy85/pseuds/Fleppy85
Summary: Starts when Julia joins "The Crows"
Relationships: Kate Kane/Sophie Moore
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	Lies and truth

Lies and truth 

1\. The best burgers

Sophie would lie if she said, she hadn’t been disappointed when Commander Kane told her she would co-head the new striking team. It had felt like he didn’t trust, like she wasn’t good enough after all she had done, after all they had been through.   
“What are you thinking?”  
“That you have learned one of the most important lessons today: where to get the best burgers.” Sophie pulled her attention back to the present, back to the blonde sitting opposite her at the table. The other co-leader of the new striking team. Julia.   
“You are thinking of burgers while having burgers?”  
“These are not simply burgers, these are the best burgers. Gotham is the only place in the east where you get In-N-Out burgers. This one is new and it shows us how burgers are supposed to be. So the next time you buy burgers for us, you know where to go.” Not that Sophie she had to hide in a motel for another week ever again. It had been the longest week in her life and working had been so difficult.   
“All right, all right, they are fairly good. Almost as good as your new partner. Did you know about this? Us being a team?”  
“No.The Commander surprised me with this. And to be honest, I was a little bit disappointed when he said I was about to co-lead the new team. It felt like he was not trusting me after all we have been through the last days.” She had been willing to stay with him when he had the bomb strapped to his chest, her loyalty was more than obvious.   
“Well, when my agency told me about his request I was not sure if it was a good idea to take this offer. After all, I get to travel the world and see many different places.”  
“Why did you agree to it?”  
Julia cocked her head and smiled. “It’s an interesting offer and I thought us working together can’t be bad. We were quite a good team the last days and I can teach you a few more things.”  
Sophie raised her brows. “You can teach me a few things?”   
“Sure. Like. When you see a red dot on your chest, you drop and not look at it like it’s a fly.”  
“Fine, your reaction was better than mine, I give you that.”   
“Thank you.”  
“Are you sure it’s only the job that keeps you here? And not…Kate?” It was not like Sophie could not understand how somebody wanted to stay in the same city as Kate. Julia was Kate’s ex just as Sophie was. Did Julia hope she and Kate could pick up where they left years ago? Kind of like Sophie did at one point?   
“I always enjoy working with Kate, but we are not like a dating couple. My job was not exactly made for relationships.”  
“You have a new one.”  
“For now. I never promised to stay for years. I might only help you and the Commander clean up the mess and straighten everything in the team out before I return to my agency.”  
That was a shame, Sophie kind of had hoped Julia would stay. At least for a longer period of time. “Why don’t you stay?”  
“Me? Settle down? For good? Not my style, Luv.”  
“Why not?”  
“I prefer to live…free. Commitments bring a lot of responsibilities, which ends too often in dramas and I don’t need that. Like I don’t need meeting the parents and family dinners.”  
“You’d be perfect for me,” Sophie said before she could stop herself. “I mean, because of the family dinners and not wanting to meet the parents part,” she added hastily, “that’s something, that won’t happen. Anymore.”  
Now it was Julia’s turn to raise her brows. “How comes?”  
“Let’s say, divorcing my husband is not exactly what my family understands and supports. When I told my mother why I don’t want to be married to Tyler anymore, that I love women, she was not happy or supportive.” Sophie still felt how her heart ached when she remembered the look on her mother’s face.   
“You told her about Kate?”  
“I told her that I met a woman at Point Rock and that when I was with her, I was happy, really happy and that I want this happiness back. She has no idea it was Kate.” Sophie wouldn’t tell her mother. Unless she changed her mind and supported her. This was not anything she expected to happen any time soon. If ever.   
“Well, bravo in the coming out and ouch on how your mother reacted. Some need time to adjust.”  
A lot of time.   
“So, have you been out dating? Now that you are out?”  
“I was kind of busy staying alive lately. You know, somebody put a bounty on my head so I had other things in mind.” And there was Batwoman. Who kind of told her, she didn’t want to date her, didn’t want to see her again because they’d always hide. Would she change her mind when she heard Sophie was out? Was Sophie ready to be out like, out and show her affection to her girlfriend in public?   
“They you should go out now, nobody is after your life anymore.”  
She hoped. “I think I am fine.”  
Julia grinned. “You are scared.”  
“Am not.”  
“Oh yes you are. Are you scared of asking women out or about what happens when they want to hold your hand in the park and everybody can see it?”  
“I’m glad it entertains you that I struggle with…standing up for myself,” Sophie grumbled, fighting anger, that came up. Not everybody could be out and proud, some had a rocky road to take and her road was rocky and some rocks fell onto the road whenever she tried to walk another step.   
“It does not entertain me, I wonder why you worry what others say.” Julia’s voice was serious again.   
“Because it’s how I was raised. To please other people.”  
“Then it’s time you learn to please yourself and not others. You risk your life for others at work, when you don’t work, you have every right to think of yourself first. When you feel like going out, meeting a woman, taking her home, do it. Life is too short to worry about what others say or think. If you are not happy you can’t make anybody else happy.”  
Was this why her relationships hadn’t worked out so far? Because she had never been happy with herself? Because she had never felt comfortable with herself? Because she had always tried to hide something about herself? Even when she was with Kate, when she had been able to be herself, she had to hide who she was. Sophie had never been honest and open about herself with everybody.   
“Let’s get back to the HQ, we have work to do.”  
“All right, message received, no more talking about personal relationships.”  
“No, it’s not a good topic.” Especially not when you talked about it with the ex of your own ex. Which must have been why she told Julia about her coming out. Julia knew about Kate and Sophie knew, she didn’t have to fear the reaction of the other woman. Julia knew about her sexuality. Kind of. At least she had known about the part Sophie had tried to hide for years.   
Who would have thought being Kate’s ex would safe her life one day? 

2\. Triangle

“You run the Crows strike team?” Kate blinked twice like she wanted to make sure she was awake and not in some sort of weird dream. The news Julia had told her sounded too weird to be real.   
“Co-run, technically. Together with Sophie.”  
Her ex was working with her ex? Could this get any weirder?   
“How did this happen?”  
“I supposed.” Julia poured herself a glass of whiskey and sat on the sofa next to Kate. They were in Kate’s apartment, which looked much better than the last time Julia had been there - and smelled better.   
“Your father liked how Sophie and I worked together on the case. He called my agency, asked to recruit me and as I have some unfinished business in Gotham, I agreed.”  
“What kind of unfinished business?” Kate hoped it had nothing to do with her. Or their shared night a week ago.   
“You.”  
No. “Julia…” How to explain there was no unfinished business between them? How to say this without sounding like an asshole, like an egocentric asshole, who only wanted Julia when she felt bad?   
“Don’t get your knickers in a twist, Luv, I was not referring to the last time I was there for you. I told you I am not that kind of girl. Clearly, you are not yourself yet, killing Cartwright got into your head, and until we have your head back to normal, you can use some backup.”  
Kate exhaled. All right, that was better, much better. No scene because of what happened the other night and not hard feelings. She couldn’t picture Julia as somebody, who got mad or hysterical about a one-night-stand, however, they were friends and as friends you should keep your clothes on. Unless you were friends with benefits and Kate doubted that would work out.   
“I am getting there.”  
“And until you are, I’ll be around, having an eye on you. Besides, working with Sophie is not exactly a punishment. She is smart, sexy and knows where to get the best burgers in town.”  
Wait. What did Julia just say? “Are you and Sophie…?”  
“No, we work together.” A wide grin spread all over Julia’s face. “Would you mind if we worked outside the Crows closely together?”  
“You do know Sophie is in the closet?”  
“If you refer to, she is not letting everybody know she is a lesbian right away, I know that, yes. As I introduced myself to her as your ex, she knows I know. There is no reason to tell the world with whom you sleep, I found it kind of easier myself when you keep your private life to yourself. Less trouble and less danger for whoever I was seeing. Not that I saw anybody long-term, work sent me away quite often. This will be a change, I’ll be at the same place for a while.”   
Somehow Julia did not sound like she didn’t want to start something with Sophie. Was it possible that these two got closer, much closer, within the last days? Kate had no idea what happened while she was kind of blacked out on her couch for a week, but when Julia and Sophie….after she and Julia had…and Sophie kissed Batwoman…what a triangle. It gave her a headache only thinking about it. She needed another thought in her head.   
“Thanks for staying with my father during the situation with the bomb.”  
“What can I say? I couldn’t leave especially not after Sophie said, she was going to stay. Or as Batwoman called me to let me know, the building wasn’t clear. Sophie knows now that Batwoman called me.”  
“She has a habit of calling people, yes.”  
“You could have called her.”  
“No.” Not after the last time they met. No. There was too much left unspoken between Sophie and Batwoman and every time she talked to Sophie, memories of their past came back and hurt. “Calling you was the right decision, no explanation needed. And you know the truth.”  
“So does Mary, I’ve been told.”  
“She figured it out and I…I was too weak to fight, to tell her, she was wrong. She deserves to know the truth because I know she can keep a secret.”  
“And Sophie can’t?”  
Kate wanted to trust Sophie, she really did. The problem was, she had no idea how loyal Sophie was to Kate’s father. Yes, she had freed Batwoman, got suspended for it and yet, there was no doubt, she’d help Batwoman again. But could she keep it to herself that Kate was Batwoman? Wouldn’t there be too much trouble? Arguing because Kate went after bad guys alone?   
“I don’t think it’s good for her when she knows the truth. Or for Batwoman.”  
“Your decision. She is team Batwoman, that is clear.”  
“I know and it gets her in trouble. I don’t want her suspended again because of Batwoman.”  
“Well, you have me in the bird’s nest now. I’ll do my best to keep them off your heels and keep your cover up.”  
“Thanks.”  
“It will be my pleasure. So, what is the plan for tomorrow?”  
“Clean up the city. Apparently when Batwoman is a few days away, the crazy come out and play. Makes you wonder how Gotham make it without Batman and Batwoman for three years.”  
“It didn’t, it was a mess and it almost got Sophie killed. Would have considered returning here if it had been anybody else?”  
Kate wanted to say yes, but she knew, it was a lie. “No, I don’t think so. Unless it had been my father or Mary.” The truth was, Sophie could make her do things, she didn’t plan on doing.   
“Well, we both have an eye on her now, so she should be fine.”  
“An eye or something else?” Did she really sound like a jealous ex?   
“Well, that depends on lovely Miss Moore, I am open for many things,” Julia smirked.   
“You enjoy this, don’t you?”  
“One word, one hint, that you want to get back together with Sophie, and I’ll stay clear.”  
“Sometimes it’s not about what you want but about what is possible.” Getting back with Sophie was impossible, their lives were too different.   
“Suit yourself, then.”   
If life was just this easy. 

3\. Not mine to tell

“Let’s get down to it, I think you have something to tell me,” Sophie sipped her coffee and her dark eyes lay on Julia, like they were looking right into her.   
Julia had a hard time not to spew her coffee over the table and into the face of the woman, who seemed to have narrowed her attention only on her and nothing and nobody else. What was Sophie talking about? Was it what Julia thought she was or something else? Something, harmless?   
“And what would that be?” Keep your cool, stay calm, don’t show your nervousness. She had years of training, she knew how to act and react in interrogation.   
“The phone you received when we were with Commander Kane. Why does Batwoman have your number?”  
Oh, okay, that was a good topic. Or at least not the worst possible topic. “She is Batwoman, I’m sure she has her ways.” Batwoman knew so many things, finding out a phone number shouldn’t be too difficult for her. “She called you too, did you leave your number for her?”  
“No.”   
“See.”   
“So, you answer your phone when an anonymous person calls all the time with “Tuxedo one”? Is that a kind of game? Do you want to irritate people this way?”  
“I am…was…a British Secret Service agent, do you expect me to answer the call with my name?”  
“Yet, Batwoman knew it was you and she had your number, a British Secret Service agent.How did she know you were there? How did she know, you were with Commander Kane?”  
This woman was too smart and she knew how to ask questions. Questions, that weren’t easy to answer for Julia. “She must have seen me.”  
Sophie shook her head slightly. She was not buying it. “You are a bad liar and you should be a good one, being an agent.”  
“What do you mean?” Her pulse had picked up, her palms were sweaty and she knew she had bitten her lips too often.   
“You know her.”  
“So do you.”  
“Do you know who she is?”  
“If I did I would not tell you because it’s nobody’s right to tell who Batwoman is. She should let the people know, she wants to know.” Was there a more clear way of saying she knew who Batwoman was? Why didn’t she lie? Because she couldn’t bear lying to Sophie, that was why.   
“You know her real name.” Sophie leaned back, closed her eyes.   
This was not the reaction Julia had expected. Why wasn’t Sophie’s next sentence a question. Who Batwoman was.   
“How do you know her?”  
“Remember The Rifle? We were both chasing him, got in a little fight over who takes him down and well, may or may not have revealed each other’s face to each other.”   
“You and Batwoman fought?”  
“Yes.”  
“How painful was your defeat?”  
“Who said I lost?”   
Sophie smiled.   
“All right, it was painful, I bruised a rip.”  
“Have you seen her? Since you are back?”  
She had more than seen Kate but that was not the question. “No, I haven’t seen her. I think until last night nobody has seen her for a week or so. I think your first night at the motel was the last time she had been seen in Gotham.”  
“Why do you think she was gone?”  
“You have to ask her herself. It’s not like you haven’t talked to her before.”  
“I don’t think this will happen again.”  
“Why is that?” Julia couldn’t see Sophie staying away from Kate. Or Batwoman.   
“The last time we met we agreed it’s the best for both of us when we stay clear. It’s not good for her, not good for me and well, the Crows are not exactly her friends or fans. If I want to keep my job, which I do, I am not supposed to get anywhere near her unless I bring her in.”  
“Which you won’t do.” Once, Sophie had chosen work over her heart and Julia knew, she would not repeat this mistake. The other woman did not know who was behind the mask, but the person was important to her and she was not going to disappoint somebody, who was important to her, a second time. Not, when she had to do something, she did not believe in.   
“No. And this will get you into the position to run the new strike team on your own because once I screw up again, I won’t work with you, I’ll be working for you or not with the Crows at all.”  
“Luv,” Julia put her hand over Sophie’s, “I won’t lead the team on my own because, like you, I will let Batwoman go. So, Commander Kane either fires both of us or lives with the fact, we have a different opinion on Batwoman than he has.” No, she would not let anything happen to Kate.   
“So, we’re both team Batwoman?”  
“We most definitely are. And I’m glad we cleared this because we have to trust each other. When you think you need to hide anything from me, you can’t have my back one hundred percent. And same goes for the other way around.”  
“Yet, you are not going to tell me who she is.”  
“No, because that is, as I said before, not the right thing to do. Like I won’t tell anybody you came out to your mother. It’s your decision who knows, not mine. As far as I am concerned, you are the straight woman, who is about to divorce her husband because she fell out of love with him. Something, that happens thousands of times every day.”  
“That’s what I told my mother first. That I fell out of love with Tyler. And when I told her the truth, that I had never been in love with him, I became the biggest disappointment in her life.”  
“She’ll get around it.” Julia slipped closer to Sophie and squeezed her hand. It was a good thing they had their own little office and weren’t sitting with all the other agents in the big community room. Neither their conversation or their physical closeness was something the other agents should hear or see. “You did the right thing. You weren’t just not telling anybody you are a lesbian, you told them, you are straight, you were living a lie and that will eat anybody at one point. I’m glad you got out of it before it ate you.”   
“At what cost?”  
“Freedom always comes with a price. Unless it’s your health, the price is always worth it.”   
“Is it worth being alone?”  
“Luv, you are not alone. Not at all.” And she was getting herself in trouble because Julia felt, how something pulled her towards Sophie, how something wanted her to show Sophie how much she was not alone. This was not the right place to do that and she was not sure if Sophie was the right woman to do it. Unlike Kate, who could like Julia, enjoy sex for comforting and not attach anything bigger to it, Julia was sure, Sophie was not this kind of woman. 

4\. Hiding

Eliminating all the dirty agents out of the Crows had left the agency with a gap, they needed new people to keep the peace. Sophie shook her head at the pile of personal files, that would be taken to the DA office soon. So many people, so many names, so many colleagues, she had worked with. How could this happen? How could a whole subculture develop within the Crows? They were there to protect the people and couldn’t take care of their own nest. It was a pity and she was not sure, how long it would take to recover from this - as an agent and for the people, who knew Crows killed to cover up their traces. A Crow had blown up Gotham International, a Crow had blown up the second building and had tried to kill their boss.   
Sophie looked out of the window and saw Commander Kane talking to Julia. If she had to co-run a team, it was Julia she wanted to do it with, yet she wondered what the agenda of the blonde was. There had to be a reason why she gave up her job with the British agency, one that had more to do with having a break from traveling. Was it Batwoman? Julia knew who she was, had this anything to do with her decision to stay in Gotham for a while? And how much did Sophie want to know who Batwoman was? Oh, she respected the decision of Julia not to tell her because it wasn’t her story to tell, yet she wondered. Like she wondered when she’d see Batwoman again. Sooner or later they’d run into each other, they always had.   
“Hey.” Julia put coffee in front of Sophie.   
“Thanks. Any news?”  
“Bad ones, yes. An inmate of Arkham is missing.”  
“Again? You should think they had their facility shut down. Why do we bother taking people in there when they walk out like it’s a damn spa?” What was the point of doing their job when others didn’t do theirs? “Who is it?”  
“Johnny Cartwright, or Mouse, as he is known mostly.”  
Mouse? “What about Alice?” When Mouse was gone, it was likely Alice would follow. They were an item.   
“Alice is still in there, apparently quiet and not causing a scene, which makes me very suspicious.”  
“Me too.” They were up to something. Something was going on and when Alice kept quiet, she was involved and sure, her plan would work out.   
“Commander Kane will go and see her later.”  
“Why?”  
“He didn’t tell and I didn’t ask.”  
“I wonder if Kate will join him.”  
“Highly unlikely.”  
“Why?”  
“She suffers enough without Alice telling her, she betrayed her and stabbed her in the back. Interestingly, when Alice lied tro Kate it was absolutely acceptable, when Kate lies to Alice, it’s betrayal.”   
How much did Julia know about Kate and Alice? She knew they were sisters, did she know more? “I can’t believe Kate broke into Arkham with Alice.”  
“That is why we won’t mention it anymore. It’s impossible. She is a real estate agent.”  
“Yeah.” That was something else Sophie did not understand. Something, she was sure held a bigger story to tell. Kate being a real estate agent was not a fit.   
“Some things about Kate do not add up,” Sophie mumbled more to herself.   
“Do all things add up when it comes to you, agent Moore?”   
“No.”  
“See. We all have things, that don’t add up. Back to Mouse, you know, it’s interesting that he is gone but nobody saw him leave. There are no videos of him escaping, nobody has seen him in Gotham. It’s like he vanished in thin air. And again, why is Alice still in Arkham and so quiet?”  
“Do you want to go there and ask her?”  
“No, the Commander will do that, at least I think he will. He won’t go there for some daughter-father time.”  
“The Commander and I were in the morgue when we saw Alice. Or a woman, who looked like Alice. We were sure she is dead, I saw how she was shot, had almost pulled the trigger myself, yet she is alive. Why? Who was the doublegänger? Was it somebody, who worked with Alice and Mouse? They do this face thing, but the woman did not wear a mask. We had seen in the morgue, the medical examiner had seen it.”  
“Some people say we all have a doublegänger, she might have been Alice’s.”  
“And she was friendly with Luke Fox, who works with Kate. Don’t you think it’s weird? That Kate knew somebody, who looked like her sister?”  
“I think there are not many things about Gotham, that are not weird. Look at the criminals, most of them like to dress up like the city has Halloween every day. Even the heroes dress up.”  
The mask hides who you are. Batwoman wore a mask everybody could see, Sophie wore a mask nobody realized it was one until she told them.   
“Sometimes, the mask protects you from more than being caught by the Crows or GCPD.”  
“And sometimes the mask turns your life into a prison.”  
That was what Alice had said. Sophie was living in a prison, she had built herself. By coming out to her mother, she had opened the door of her cage, the question was, when was she brave enough to step out into freedom? 

5\. The way is the fun

“We are going clubbing.”   
“I beg your pardon?”   
“We are going clubbing,” Julia repeated and sat on the edge of Sophie’s desk. “Tonight. Top end mob nightclub, over the roofs of the city.”  
“Why?”  
“They have half-naked women dancing in a cage, is that reason enough?” Julia enjoyed how Sophie blushed and tried to hide it under anger. Oh, so sweet, embarrassed because she liked the idea of the dancing half-naked women and knew, Julia could see it. “Imagine, they were only some underwear, there might be water, their bodies will be wet, their hands run over their wet body…”  
“Stop it!”   
“Why? I like the fantasy.”  
“You are at work.”  
“This is how our job will tonight. Well, we won’t be the dancing women, although…I could see you dancing like these women. You’d look just as sexy as they do. Ever thought about becoming a dancer? I mean, with your body, you would be the highlight of the show.”  
“Are you sure you can run co-run a strike team? Your mind seems to go to places, that have nothing to do with work.”  
“Technically, when I think about you, my thoughts have to do with work. You are my colleague.”  
“Exactly.”  
“Oh Sophie, after being with another cadet for three years and being married to your colleague, you can’t say you don’t mix pleasure and work.”  
“And see where it got me.”  
“Second in command of the Crows? Acting Commander for a while? Co-leader of the striking team, together with her your amazing, sexy and charming partner.”  
“Who wants to go to a mob club.”  
Sophie die not say she didn’t think Julia was amazing, sexy and charming. “Rumor has it, there is something going on we might be interested in.”  
“Says who?”  
Well, here came the charm. “Batwoman.”  
“I’m sure, you being this amazing can explain to Commander Kane why we have to go to this club. Because that is not a reason for him to send us there - unless you want to take her in.”  
“We established that neither you or I want that, so I ignore you said that. Does the name Magpie rind a bell?”  
“Diamond thief, Batwoman caught her, left her for us. She is…”  
“Free. Apparently, Mouse is not the only one, who disappeared. And she has a connection to the mob, who own the nightclub.”  
“She is a photographer.”  
“Who stole diamonds and mobs do buy these things when they like it.”  
“Batwoman is chatty around you, you must be good friends.”  
“Don’t be jealous, the details are the fruits of my research, not Batwoman telling me all her secrets.” And Sophie was jealous. Julia just wasn’t sure if the other woman was jealous of her or Batwoman.   
“I’m glad you do some work yourself.”  
“Whenever I’m needed I’m there.” Like when she saved Sophie’s life.   
“So, what are we telling the Commander? The Magpie escaped and we have evidence she will show up at this nightclub tonight?”  
“And we’ll be there undercover to see if the rumors are true. You do own something sexy, don’t you? Because neither the three piece suit or the technical suit will do it for tonight.”  
“Don’t worry, I will find something, it’s not the first time I’m undercover. When Kate opened her bar I was there too because we had a vampire on the loose.”  
“How did Kate like your outfit?”  
“I have no idea.”  
“How did she look?”  
“Good.”  
When Sophie said good she meant gorgeous. It was a shame that Julia’s sexy coworker was still hooked on Kate; not that Kate wasn’t hooked on Sophie, but for some reasons, these two didn’t figure it out. Julia surely wasn’t pushing them, they had to find their own timing to realize they were meant for each other and until then, there was nothing wrong to have some fun.   
“Me might be lucky and see her there tonight. You never know, I have a feeling Kate might enjoy the dancing women too.”  
“You have to learn to work with evidence and not with feelings. Feelings do not get you where you want to be.”  
“On the contrary, feelings get you exactly where you want to be.” Julia slipped closer to Sophie, getting way into her personal space. “All you have to understand is that feelings don’t have to be something that won’t change forever. Sometimes it’s good to have feelings for a certain amount of time and then develop into more. We are on a journey, Sophie, step by step, we all have to get to our destination and there is no rule that we can’t enjoy our way. When you save your happiness for the destination the way will be longer, harder and no fun.”   
“You are sitting on my papers.”  
“Wear something fun, tonight. I see you at nine, don’t be late.” Julia slipped off the table, making sure she rubbed her arm on Sophie’s on her way out. No, she was not playing fair and she was not giving work the attention, she should, but she wanted to have some fun while she worked with the Crows. And Sophie needed fun, she needed to have something else to give her pleasure than work. Maybe tonight could be a step for the agent to get her mind off work for a while - while working.   
For a moment Julia thought about talking to Kate what she’d say when Julia flirted with Sophie. Their relationship was complicated and although they seemed to not try to get back together, both weren’t interested in anybody else. Kate might have had sex with Julia the other night, pretty good sex, but Julia would be a fool if she believed it meant, Kate had feelings for her, like she had and still have for Sophie.   
No, these two were their final destination and when Julia could be fun on the way, she wouldn’t complain. She was all in for the fun way and less interested in getting to her destination - whoever that might be. 

6\. Ex ex ex

Sophie had no idea why she had agreed to this. Dressing up for an undercover case. Dressing up for something, that could be a lie, there was no evidence this nightclub was somehow involved with the Magpie. Yes, Sophie had confirmed the Magpie had escaped Arkham and she knew, the city was up for some trouble thanks to that. The real reason she was here - and that was something she would not confess to anybody - was because Batwoman had given Julia the tip. Sophie hoped she might see her tonight, might have the chance to talk to her.   
She was on time; as usual. Not that she was a nightclub woman, she had been way too busy with her work the last years and she and Tyler did not really go out. They had been out for dinner, nothing else. Sophie had always declined offers to go to a club. What was the point of going there when all that would happen was, she’d end up looking at women she thought were sexy and had to pretend, she was head over heels in Tyler? No, it was easier to keep her lie alive when they stay home.   
“Luv, you do look sexy.”  
Sophie turned and swallowed. Wow. Julia looked…damn hot. Instead a dress she had chosen leather. Black leather pants, a short top that reminded Sophie more of a bra and a leather jacket. Add to it leather boots and you had a bad ass version of her colleague. Absolutely hot.   
“You don’t look too bad yourself.”  
“Ah, nothing can beat this sexy dress, tell me where do you have your gun?” Julia stepped closer.   
“In my clutch.”  
“So ladylike.”   
“While you are quite…”  
“Butch? Believe me, I had loved to wear a sexy dress, but one of us has to be able to chase the stealing bird. Your sexy legs might distract her long enough for me to catch up with her. Why are you hiding these legs in pants all the time?”  
“Because we work and our work is not walking on the catwalk.”  
“You’d look good on that one.”  
“Save it for somebody else. Let’s get in, your source better was right about the Magpie.”  
“You know who my source is so you know she is right.” Julia linked her arm with Sophie and grinned.   
Cocky. Arrogant. And it worked. Julia’s smile got them past the bouncer and to the elevator. The nightclub was upstairs and from the amount of people, who were with them in the elevator, the party there had already started. Since when did they start this early?   
The doors opened and Sophie found herself right in the middle of the dance floor. As Julia had mentioned, there were half naked women dancing in cages above their heads and they looked nice.   
“Looks like we are not the only ones, who decided it’s time to have some fun,” Julia’s lips were right next to Sophie’s left ear and being this close made her shiver. In a way, she didn’t want to. Like she didn’t want to believe her eyes when she followed Julia’s finger. There was Kate, dressed in a black suit and she looked…good. Leaning onto the bar, she hadn’t seen them.   
“I don’t believe it.”  
“What? It’s Kate and she is looking good.”  
“I had no idea she and the bartender are still seeing each other.”   
“Oh, you know her?”  
“They hooked up a while ago, I met them at a party, where I was to look after Mary. Tommi Elliot’s party, when he crashed one of the elevators down.” Somebody told me to move on had been Kate’s words when they met in the elevator. And then she had seen her and the blonde at a party, where the Magpie showed up. The blonde had been Kate’s date.   
“Looks like she found herself something to play with. I mean, she is not bad, but you are better.”  
“Apparently Kate likes blond women.”   
“What about you?”  
“I like to work and have my colleague focus on our mission.”  
“Believe me, I am focused.”   
Sophie felt how Julia’s hands moved around her waist. What the hell? They weren’t here for fun.   
“Relax. Unless you want to blend in by having one of the guys all over you,” Julia’s lips were back to Sophie’s ear, “we are here to have fun, to dance, so we better hook up with each other or we have to deal with strangers. Call me practical but I prefer to have you all over me and not to explain to you why I ran away out of the blue because I saw the Magpie.”   
One thing was for sure, Julia’s hand were all over her and Sophie hated the fact her body reacted to this. She noticed her breath stopped every time Julia’s body moved closer, every time her hand ran over Sophie’s middle section and she hated the fact, that a part of her wanted to find out how Julia’s hand felt somewhere else.   
“You enjoy this undercover part, don’t you?”  
“A lot. This is better than the women in the cages. And we can check out the room whole dancing. Want to turn so we can look in two different directions?”  
Turn and be face to face with Julia? Sophie was not sure this was a good idea. It was hard enough to keep herself together when Julia stood behind her, when her lips were this close to Sophie’s face, she had no idea how good she could concentrate on her job.   
“Come on, you have my back and I have yours.” Julia turned Sophie in her arms without breaking contact and Sophie found herself eye to eye with the blonde. This was close, way too close.   
“Much better.” Julia’s lips were back at Sophie’s ear, “this is a better way to observe a place and keeping the undercover work hidden. Not that I didn’t like holding you the way I did.”  
She was still holding her, Julia’s hands were still on Sophie’s body, her body was still pressed to Sophie’s and she was too close for Sophie to concentrate on her work. Completely. And on nothing else.   
“Tell me again why we can’t stand at the bar with a drink in our hands, talk and observe.”  
“Because this is how you blend in. Nobody looks twice at us because we act like everybody else. When we stand sophisticated at the bar, hold a glass of water in our hands and watch the crowd, people will realize there is something wrong with us.”  
She was normal by dancing very close with a sexy woman. Her new reality was…well, new. She had to get used to it. This was normal, standing at the bar not. Normal was…sexy.

7\. On the dance floor

Okay, she was enjoying this and no, it was not really necessary they danced this close and that her hands were only inches over Sophie’s lovely butt, but hey, she was only a woman and she wanted to enjoy her work. No harm was done when she observed the club this way. Quite contrary, it was fun and she would be damned if Sophie did not enjoy this too. She’d not say so if asked, Julia knew this, but she also knew how a woman behaved, who enjoyed a situation.   
Kate seemed to have picked up where she had left with the bartender. So, they had dated before, what had gotten in the way? Somehow Julia was sure it had to do with Batwoman. Keeping this secret and maintaining a relationship was impossible. Batwoman was away most nights, she had to go out of the blue, not came back for hours, how would explain this to your partner? There was a reason why Bruce had been single. No, you either kept your secret or your relationship. Or you dated somebody, who knew your secret, which limited your choices.   
Julia had no idea who the blonde was, she would put some time and effort in it to find out later or tomorrow. This was not an act of jealousy, no, she was not stupid, she knew Kate’s heart belonged to one woman, one woman only, and that was the woman in Julia’s arms. Whatever Kate was doing was only trying to fill a gap Sophie had left years ago and nobody was able to fill it until these two sat down and talked, really talked. For some reasons they weren’t capable of doing this and tortured each other more without knowing it.   
Well, maybe Julia could make herself useful and offer Sophie a little escape. Or be there for her, like she had been for Kate.   
“I haven’t seen the Magpie. Not as Magpie and not without her costume and I know how she looks, I arrested her.”  
“Me neither and I know both of her faces too. The evening is young, there is plenty of time for her to show up.”  
“Do you want to dance the whole time?”  
“If you have any ideas how to blend in in another way, tell me. I see a free corner table, we could go there, have something to drink, let people think we’re making out.” And make out a little bit.   
“I do need something to drink.”  
“Yeah, you are hot. How about you secure the table and I get us something to drink? This way you don’t have to talk to Kate’s bartender.”  
“Water, just plain water for me. No vodka added.”  
“Of course not, we are on the job.” Julia kissed Sophie’s cheek. “I see you in a minute, Luv.”  
The little gasp told her, Sophie did not dislike the kiss. Ah, such a hot woman and she had hidden her desire for such a long time, it showed. Julia knew she was starting a fire and she was absolutely willing to get burned.   
“Hey, can I have two cranberry sodas, please?” Julia said to the blonde and leaned next to Kate.   
“Sure.”  
“You and Sophie look very comfortable together,” Kate said when the bartender had turned.   
“All for show. We have to blend in, just like you do. Although, I’ve been told you and the blonde have some history together.”  
“Why is that your business?”  
“It’s not and I am not the one, who wonders why you are interested in her. She’s sexy.”  
“And she is out.”  
So was Sophie. Kind of.   
“She does not mind walking hand in hand through Gotham.”  
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me, Kate. If she is what you want, go for it. Do you mind when I have some fun with Sophie?”  
“As in…?”  
“Comforting her? Being there for her? Whatever you want to call it.”  
“I don’t think that is what she is after.”  
“You never know. What I know is why you are not over her, she is hot. So, you go and have some fun with whatever her name is and I see what happens between Sophie and me. We got closer, working together does this with you. Not that you don’t know that.”  
“Her name is Reagan and suit yourself.”  
“Thanks,” Julia smiled at Reagan and handed her the money for their drinks. “If anything happens, we’ll have your back. No matter what you wear this or something else.” Julia found Kate’s eyes before she picked up the glasses and left. No matter what would happen tonight, her highest priority was that Kate, Sophie and her got out of it unharmed, no matter who was with whom or working as a Crow or Batwoman.   
“You got her to prepare us drinks - that don’t look like water.”  
“Soda with cranberry, no alcohol, I promise and her name is Reagan.” Julia leaned next to Sophie and looked back at the bar, where Kate talked to Reagan, then both laughed.  
“She worked at Tommi Elliot’s party, she works here, where the Magpie is supposed to meet mobster. Isn’t it interesting, that she works at shady places? Or for shady people.”  
“How hard is it in Gotham to end up working for somebody, who doesn’t take the law seriously?”   
“All right, you have got a point,” Sophie sighed, “yet, I don’t trust her.”  
“You, my Luv, don’t trust her because she flirts with Kate and Kate flirts with her. If the two of you would act like adults and talk, really talk, honest, there would be nobody else in your life. As you both prefer to act like children, you have to get burned a few more times before you end up with each other.”  
“What makes you think Kate and I are meant to be together?”  
“The fact that you are both still in love with the other.”  
“She flirts with the blonde.”  
“And you were married to a guy.”  
“Okay, you have got another point.”  
“Sophie,” Julia put her glass down and stepped closer to Sophie, “you and Kate, you have to come to the conclusion yourself. You can delay it, get distracted with others, but in the end you only hurt others and yourself when you are not honest. To yourself and to others. I…I know what you said to Batwoman the night she ended in the hands of the Crows until Kate got her out of the van, I know that you regretted not leaving Point Rock with her, that you never wanted to marry Tyler because you never loved him. The thing is, sometimes we meet the one, who is soul mate, but we are not ready for them. It’s okay, you only have to be honest to yourself and to the ones, you are with.”  
“Do you think she is honest to Reagan?”  
“I don’t know. Are you honest to yourself?”  
“I’m…working on that.”  
“Good, that is a great first step.” She didn’t expect wonders to occur, yet she was glad Sophie was not telling her she was honest to herself all the time. We all lied to ourselves sometimes, the question was, did we realize it? Or did we believe the lies we told ourselves? 

8\. Fake it until you want it

Yes, she didn’t like the fact Kate was flirting with this…Reagan. And Sophie still believed something was wrong with the waitress, there was something about her that made her believe, Reagan was more than a waitress.   
“There is a mobster in the club.” Julia’s hands grabbed Sophie’s waist and pulled her closer, her lips on Sophie’s cheek, “Alfonso Salasa. What do you know about him?”   
“He is the head…of an Argentinian mafia family,” Sophie tried to pull her mind off Julia’s hands, that wandered over her back and down, very close to her ass. And a part of her wanted the hands of the other woman there. “We have worked for years to get him locked away, he is slippery like a fish and…he has connections to Argentina.” Damn it, Julia’s hands made it hard to focus.   
“Any connections to the Magpie or her associates?”   
“Not that I know of.”   
“Mhm, he seems to be very interested in the women around him. I see two shadows, both with guns. Do you know if he comes here for business or pleasure?”  
“I have no idea, so far we haven’t connected him to this place.” Sophie tried to see something, so she grabbed Julia’s waist and turned her in order to have a look at Salasa. To make it less obvious she was looking at the man, she buried half of her face in Julia’s hair. This woman smelled good and her skin was soft.   
“Might be a coincidence.”  
“I don’t believe in coincidences.”  
“What a coincidence, neither do I.”   
One of the bodyguards had looked at her for the second time within a few seconds. Had he recognized her? Made as an agent, who was not here to have a good time but to spy on somebody? She needed to something to make him forget about her.   
“Sorry,” Sophie mumbled and before she could change her mind, she pulled Julia’s head over and their lips met. It was supposed to be a faked kiss, something, that looked like it was passionately and like the two women, who kissed, had nothing else than themselves on their mind. A distraction. A show. The problem was, the moment their lips met, there was no fake. It was a real kissed and the moan, that escaped Sophie’s mouth, was real. Oh my gosh, this felt good, this was like…sexy as hell. Julia’s lips were soft and she didn’t seem to be irritated at all or if she was, she could hide it very good. And when Sophie felt the tongue of the blonde at her lips, she opened her mouth, hungrily taking the tongue in, stroking it with her tongue. She felt Julia’s hands on her ass, felt how she was pushed closer to the other woman and she gave into it. The resistance, that had been there, was gone the second they kissed. Kissing a woman was so much better than kissing a man. It had never aroused her when Tyler kissed her, it had never made her feel like her skin burned, like her pulse was five times faster than it was supposed to be. No matter how much she had tried to tell herself she should feel all these things, they had never happened and with Julia, they were there, right from the beginning, although all she wanted to do was fake interest in the other woman.   
“I’m sorry, the bodyguard looked too often at our direction, I was afraid he made us,” Sophie gasped when their lips parted and she had some air to talk.   
“Luv, I am not complaining, quite contrary. Feel free to fake an interest in me any time again.” Julia’s lips kissed Sophie’s throat, “I’m more than happy to go on with this game.”  
They couldn’t make out on the dance floor with people watching them. They were two women and people…did not care.   
“Julia,” Sophie moaned when the kisses moved lover, reached her shoulder, “we are…”  
“Undercover.”  
When they went on like this they’d end under cover. Under the covers of a bed. Sophie felt her whole body forgetting about why they were here and screaming for something else. This was her colleague, she couldn’t…they were both Kate’s exes, this was not right.   
“The bodyguard lost interest.”  
“Really? I think it just got interesting,” Julia smiled softly.   
“Luckily not for him.”  
“Mhm, we should not give him a reason to get suspicious again.”  
“I need something to drink,” Sophie said before Julia’s lips could get too close, “why don’t you wait and I get us something?”  
“You want to leave me alone on the dance floor? No, we go together, we can’t get enough of each other, Luv.”  
How was she supposed to get her head clear when Julia was around? Worse, unless she wanted to be served by Reagan, she had to fight her way through people to the other bartender. And Kate was still sitting in front of Reagan.  
Taking a deep breath, Sophie walked up to the bar. “Hey, can I have two sodas? Cranberry sodas?”  
“Sure.”   
She recognized her. She knew she was Kate’s ex.   
“You seemed to take your undercover job very seriously,” Kate said when her eyes fell on Sophie and Julia.   
“One of Salasa’s bodyguard got suspicious.”  
“Now he got something else from watching your show.”  
“Don’t be jealous, Luv, I’m sure you will have your own fun once Reagan is off,” Julia grinned, “and you don’t have to pretend.”  
This was nothing Sophie wanted to hear. As a matter of facts, she didn’t even wan to be here.   
“You pretending looked damn real.”  
“We are good.”  
“Your sodas.”  
“Thanks.” Sophie handed her the money and Julia the drink. “Let’s go and find a place to watch this without drawing attention to us.” And without ending up kissing again.   
“We could have stayed at the bar, friends talking.”   
“No, we are not friends talking and I don’t want to see Kate and Reagan undressing with their eyes.” Sophie put her glass on a wooden plank, that went around the wall, probably installed for exactly this: leaving your drink so you had your hands free.   
“I can take your mind of them, if you want. Because I don’t mind. At all.”   
“We are…” The rest of Sophie’s sentence was washed away in a passionate kiss, that had not only blown her mind, but also made her lose her balance. Luckily, Julia had pulled her in, so she fell into the other woman, who stood with her back to the wall. Instead of protesting, what she had wanted to do, her body had other plans. Her lips responded to the kiss, her mouth opened and her tongue was hungrily looking for Julia’s tongue. She felt Julia’s hand moving into her dress, caressing her back and pulling her even closer. A thigh moved between her legs and made her moan. This was not going the way it was planned. Not at all. It got out of hands. 

9\. Opportunity and attraction

She could get used to kissing Sophie and despite everything the other woman tried to make her believe, she did not fight, did not try to end the kiss and she most definitely enjoyed what they were doing. The moans were obvious and Sophie’s hands were on Julia’s body, under her top. The surprised kiss was because the bodyguard had been close and she didn’t want him to believe, they watched him and his boss so they had to look occupied with themselves and then they were. The fake turned into reality and Julia had to use all her willpower to stop.   
“Salasa was behind us, I don’t think he believes we are interested in anybody else than us,” she said in a second they used to breathe. Her body was only interest in Sophie, there was no need to fake anything. She felt arousal and any inch she moved away from the other woman felt like pain.   
“O-okay. I…”  
“I’m not saying he is back, so just imagine he is back.” Julia pulled Sophia back in her arms and kissed her before she moved her lips to Sophie’s cheek, “he is at the bar, talks to a man in a black suit, they’re both watching the woman in the cage. Suit guy looks like drugs, not like diamonds.”   
“On the heavy side?”  
“Yes. No hair. Not attractive.”  
“Pepino Cortez, Mexican drug cartel. Not the head, but quite up the food chain.” Sophie’s hands were still on Julia’s back, touching her skin, leaving a burning trace.   
“Any connections to the Magpie?”  
“No and no connections to anything with diamonds. They supply most of Gotham’s high society with their drugs of choice. Commander Kane and I wanted to arrest him so many times, we don’t get any of our clients to work with us. Too many of them are Cortez’s clients too.”  
“It’s interesting who we see here tonight. Even when the Magpie doesn’t fly by, I say this is an interesting evening. Two drug cartels together, Gotham is either in for a drug war or a fusion and I’m not sure what brings more problems for us.” Julia nibbled on Sophie’s throat, enjoying the little moan and the trembles. Sophie enjoyed what she was doing and so was she.   
“We should keep our eyes on Salasa and Cortez, these two mean trouble.”   
“Sounds like we’re going to stay here a little bit longer. Shall we follow them when they leave?”   
“We could call for backup.”  
“Mhm, I’m interested how you explain to them our kind of…undercover work.” She doubted Sophie would continue their play when other Crows were around.   
“Do you have a better idea?”  
“Stay, watch them and we return tomorrow night. Batwoman said the Magpie is likely to show up here, she will be right. Maybe she is wrong about tonight, but when she says, the birdie flies here with her shiny treasures, she will. Have you found everything the Magpie stole?”  
“No.”  
“Mhm, she might be busy organizing something new, which means, we might get called to a scene.” And there they couldn’t have their hands all over them, there, they couldn’t get lost in passionate kisses. Which was a shame. Such a shame. On the bright side, Sophie was here on foot, Julia was here by car, she knew, who would take whom home tonight.   
“Kate is listening in on what they talk, they are less than a yard away from her.”  
“Good. She’ll let us know. I wonder if they don’t know she is Commander Kane’s daughter.”  
“It’s not like Kate has been around and told everybody who her father is. She stays away from him, from the Crows. For all we know, she is a real estate agent.”  
Little do you know, Sophie, little do you know. It didn’t surprise Julia that Gotham had no idea who Batwoman was, but Sophie had met her various times, there had been a time when she had been sure, Kate was Batwoman and with this simple trick, they had played her. How comes a smart woman like Sophie did not know the truth? She had been close to Batwoman, she must have recognized these eyes. It had taken Julia less than half a minute to recognize the woman beneath the mask. They hadn’t been together for three years.   
“And a bar owner,” Julia added.   
“Yes. Do you think she’ll employ Reagan?”  
“No. It’s never a good idea to employ your girlfriend. As soon as the relationship is over, you have to face the relationship trouble and need to find a new employee.” And as Kate was Batwoman, this relationship would not last long.   
“Then you better stop doing with your hands what you do because that is not what you do with a colleague.”  
Julia smiled. Her left hand had found Sophie*s nice ass and stayed there. “Undercover, remember? Besides, I’m not telling you we’re meant for each other, I’m not telling you, I want to wake up with you every day. Which does not mean, I would mind waking up with you tomorrow morning. Both in our birthday suits. I’m not made for these long-term relationships, I prefer to use opportunities.”   
“And you see me as your next opportunity?”  
“I see you as a woman, a fascinating woman, I’d like to see more of. And I believe when both want the same thing, it does not interfere with work.”   
“So, you want sex and that’s it?”  
“No, I want you to have great sex and us to work together. Instead of a friend with benefits a colleague with benefits. Same scheme as the first one, no trouble, only fun and when one doesn’t want to continue it’s over with no hard feelings. And Sophie, that there is an attraction between us, is undeniable.”   
“I’m not denying it.” Sophie moved closer, her grabbing Julia’s ass, “I’m more attracted to you than I was to my husband in our entire marriage.”  
“I think that is something we can work with.” Later. When they were done here. 

10\. Beautiful curls

Sophie felt sore at place, she hadn’t felt sore for…many years. And she felt the warm body next to her. Julia’s body. She had sex with her colleague, Kate’s ex, the woman, who had saved her life. Her brain had stopped working and her body had demanded something, she had denied it for years. The problem was, when you acted on pure instincts, did not use your brain, it all ended in trouble, but hell, Julia had been so hot, so tempting and she had been weak, had given in and now she had to face it. Or get out of bed to get some distance between them.   
Carefully Sophie got out of the loose embrace and sat up. She had to pick up her clothes - wherever they were - and leave.   
“Are you going to the bathroom or sneaking out so you don’t have to talk to me?”  
Busted. Sophie swallowed and looked for something to cover up. Where were her clothes?   
“Soph?”  
“I…I think it’s best when I go.”  
“So, you want to sneak out and then have awkward silence between us when we meet at the HQ later? Are you sure that’s a smart idea?”  
No, it was not. Neither had been getting involved with Julia. As she had figured out before, her brain had been out of order because she had been so tempted by Julia and she had given in without a lot of resistance.   
“I…I have no idea what to do. To say.”  
“How about you get back into bed and we talk?”  
“I do need the bathroom. And my clothes.”  
“You know where the bathroom is and there is no need for your clothes, I have seen you naked. Like every single part of your body. A very fine body.”   
Sophie felt how her face turned hot. Yes, Julia had seen everything of her body and she had seen everything of Julia’s body. The sex had been passionately, hungry and so satisfying, Sophie had forgotten how good sex could be. Now that she was sore she remembered and she remembered what she and Julia had done last night.   
“Where are my clothes?”  
“My best guess is in the bathroom, I remember undressing you before we had our shower.”   
Yes, they had shared a shower and it had been the start of their sex night. Julia’s hands had been all over Sophie’s body, she had undressed her, had covered her skin with kisses and Sophie could still feel the lips of the other woman sucking on her nipples.   
When the room was bathed in soft light, Sophie pulled up the sheets, making Julia chuckle.   
“All right, how about this? You go to the bathroom, I promise I close my eyes and you come back here so we can talk and not end up feeling awkward around each other in the office?”  
Except for the part of her coming back to bed, back into bed, it sounded like a smart plan. Yet, getting dressed and then sitting on a chair while Julia was naked in bed was also not an option.   
“And you keep your eyes closed.”  
“Of course. I don’t need them open to remember your body. Look, I even turn away.” Julia turned so all Sophie saw when she turned, was a naked back. A back, she had covered with kisses last night. A back, that seemed to call her, that wanted her to touch it.   
Hastily Sophie got up and walked to the bathroom. The apartment was not big, there were two other doors. One to the living room with kitchen and one out of the apartment. As she had promised to come back, the bathroom door was her option.   
What had happened last night? How was it possible that she had given in? That she had gone with Julia. Willingly.   
Sophie spilled some water in her face and ignored her own reflection in the mirror. Seeing herself standing stark naked in the bathroom of somebody else was not, what she wanted to see now. She walked back to the bedroom and after a second of hesitation into it. Julia still lay with her back turned to her in bed.   
Slowly Sophie slipped back under the sheets.   
“See, it was not that bad to come back, was it?” Julia turned and her blue eyes found Sophie’s.   
“I’m…I’ve no idea what to say or to do. This has never happened before.”  
“You missed out, Luv.”  
She felt how the other woman looked at her hair. Her hair, that did not look the way it should. After the shower there had been no time for straighten it so her curls had appeared and given her a new look. At least for Julia this look was new.   
“Yes, they are curly and I know, it looks weird.”  
“Weird is the wrong word. They look beautiful. You are beautiful. I’ve no idea why you hide your curls, they are a part of you and they are beautiful.”  
“That’s not exactly what some hairdresser say.”   
“Who cares? Your curls are beautiful, do not listen to anybody, who says different. Beautiful and I’m sure a lot of women would love this hair. They make you look careless, younger and happier.”  
So many positive things about her curls? After her mom had told her to either cut her hair or get the curls out because this woman of color hair would not do her any good. When she wanted to live like the others, she had to look like them.   
“I only have them when I stay at home.”  
“Which is a shame, as I said, they are beautiful and so are you. Very beautiful.” Julia let her index finger run softly over Sophie’s cheek and lips. Without thinking about it, she kissed it.   
“Thank you.”  
“You’re welcome. Now, where to start to make us feel comfortable around each other when we meet dressed?”  
“I have no idea.” She wished she knew, but this was nothing she knew. This whole situation was new to her and it scared her. More than any case with the Crows ever had. 

11\. Conversation

“Come here.”  
“What?”  
“Come here.” Julia pulled Sophie into her arms. Feeling their naked skin touch almost made her forget that they wanted and needed to talk. The softness of Sophie’s skin made her want something else.   
“Better. Now, first of all: we did nothing wrong, okay? We did not hurt anybody, we did not break any law, we did nothing forbidden.”  
“Why do I feel guilty then?”  
“You tell me.” Julia had some ideas, but she needed Sophie to say these words.   
“We’re colleagues, we’re…not in a relationship, we are both Kate’s ex and we have to work together after last night. As a matter of fact, we lead a team together.”  
“And how does last interfere with this?”  
“It’s…” Sophie was quiet.   
“Our ability to work together hasn’t changed, I care for you, Sophie, I’m having your back. Right now, literally, and in the field in any way you need me to. I trust you to do the same for me.”   
“What are we going to tell Kate? When she finds out?”  
“Kate is an adult, who most likely had a similar night like we had and she does not apologizes for it to us. We are not dating Kate, we used to, past tense. Do you want Tyler to ask you for permission before he dates somebody?”  
“No!”   
“See, this is not different.”  
“How can you go back to like last night has never happened?”  
“Who said I want? Whenever I see you now, I’ll smile because of last night. I will remember last night and know, we both had something very satisfying, how we both were who we are. And then I’ll continue with work like I would anyway. Because we are both professionals.”  
“Who were all over each other last night.”  
“To blend in. We never did not do our work, Sophie.” They might had enjoyed each other’s company, had done a few things, they didn’t have to do for their cover, yet they never lost track on what the mobsters were up to and always checked the for Magpie. That she didn’t show up was something they couldn’t change.   
“What if this happens again?”  
Oh gosh, she hoped it would. Because one night was not enough to worship Sophie “sexy” Moore. “What harm would it be?”  
“No harm, but…do you want it to happen again?”  
“Yes. When we both feel like it.”  
Sophie was quiet for a short while and Julia felt how the other woman was thinking, debating with herself. There was a lot to process for Sophie, things, she hadn’t worried about before. She was not used to listen to her body, she was used to do what society expected her to do.   
“You do this often, don’t you?”  
“Describe often.”  
“You have…you have stuff here for safe sex.”  
“Yes, because I enjoy having sex and I am not crazy or suicidal and sleep around without protection. You expect a man and a woman to have safe sex, it’s the same between two women. It does not mean I’m having a different woman in my bed every night, it means, when I meet somebody, who wants the same I want and we have a chemistry, I act on my desire. As I don’t want regret this, I have everything I need for safe sex.”  
“I…I never used these things. I mean, when I met Tyler we used condoms first and then I took the pill…we were exclusive so there was no need for me.”  
“Condoms do not protect you all the time, there are some ways of having sex, they don’t help.”  
“Tyler didn’t do that.”  
“Well, then you missed out big time.”  
“I know.”  
“Did you miss anything last night?”  
“No.”  
“Did you feel uncomfortable at any time?”  
“No.”  
Julia kissed Sophie’s shoulder. “Then tell me, was last night a mistake?”  
“No. It was…what we wanted. I’m only…I have the feelings the others will know when they see us together.”  
“They won’t and even if they do, they knew about you and Tyler, this is not different.”  
“I might need a little bit of time before I am as comfortable as you are.”  
“The good thing is, you have all the time in the world, Sophie. I’m not going to pull you into my arms and kiss you senselessly at the HQ.” Not that this wasn’t a nice idea, something she would enjoy, but they were professionals and Julia knew how to act like a professional agent. She had never gotten her nights in the way of her days.   
“I know. What if…this one a one time only thing?”  
“Then it was a very nice one time only thing.”  
“And when…when it’s not a one time thing?”  
“I’m looking forward to the second time. No strings attached, Sophie. I meant what I said, I know your heart I with somebody else.”  
“I…I kissed Batwoman.”  
Okay, she did not see that coming. Sophie kissed Batwoman? Like in…she kissed Kate and had no idea she kissed Kate? “Okay. That is a surprise. I had no idea you and her are…a thing.” Well, technically, they had been a thing for years, but…how could Kate kiss Sophie and not tell her, it was her? This was screaming for trouble when Sophie found out.   
“We…I freed her when Nocturna, a woman who drained the blood out of her victims, somehow drugged her and tied her up. I had tow choices: I arrest her because my guys were only seconds away or I free her. I chose the second one and well, it was on camera, it was what got me suspended. When I told her I was suspended for helping her, she offered to stay away and I…I stopped her and kissed her. There were these tensions between us, sparkles, it had been this way from the very first moment when she saved my life. We kissed, the next evening when she came to my place, we kissed again until my mother interrupted us. She had come to tell me, we couldn’t see each other anymore because it’s too dangerous for me…the next time we met, she told me that I wanted to be with her because she wore a mask and therefor I could hide her, I could hide the relationship. So she broke up before we really were together and I told my mother the truth.”  
Oh shit. Kate, do you have any idea what was going on? Do you know what you have done? You made Sophie come out and then you vanished into thin air. No wonder she was a insecure as hell.   
“Which was brave.”  
“I miss her, I had hoped to see her last night and I know I make a fool out of myself because I believed there was more.”  
“There might be more, you don’t know.”  
“And then you showed up, saved my life like Batwoman did. You both entered my life by saving it. You knew I’m a lesbian, you knew about Kate and me and you flirted with me. It was nice and it felt right. And then you told me, you believe Kate and I are meant to be with each other and only hours later we are in bed, having sex and now…now I’m more confused than ever.”  
“I’m sorry you are confused, Sophie, I never wanted to hurt you.”  
“You didn’t, it’s not your fault I’m a mess.”  
“A damn sexy mess and at work absolutely a professional.”  
“I never thought I’d say this, but I miss my time with Tyler. Not because I miss him, but because I miss something steady in my life. A routine. I knew when I came home what and who was waiting for me. Now, there is nobody and nothing and I…I have no idea how to balance work and life because I have no idea what my life is.”  
“What would you like to have in your life? What would you like to do after work?”  
“I have no idea. I want something normal.”  
Something boring. Something ordinary. “How about we go and watch a movie tonight? Unless we have to work.”  
“Sounds good.”  
“Could it be you miss having somebody at your place to talk? About what’s on your mind.”  
“Yes.”  
“Well, I’m not only very capable of taking your mind of everything, I am also a very good listener. If we have to work too long tonight and don’t make it to the movies, I can come with you, we sit on the couch and talk. Stay dressed, I might hold you in my arms and that’s it.”   
“You’d be okay with that?”  
“Absolutely.” She liked Sophie and this did not mean, she liked to have sex with her and that’s it. The sex had been great, but she also liked the sharp mind of the other woman. A conversation, holding her, was absolutely something she liked.   
“Under one condition,” Julia added.   
“Which one?”  
She felt tension, Sophie expected something bad, that Julia demanded something she could not do or could only do against her will. “You keep your cute curls and don’t straighten your hair. Being straight does not suit as good as the other version. Punch intended.”  
Sophie chuckled and relaxed. “You really like the ‘fro?”  
“Sure. It’s you and I like you. Be yourself when you are with me, not somebody people expect you to be. When you are who you are, you are perfect to me.” There was no reason for Sophie to pretend to be somebody else, she was perfect in every single way. And Julia would tell her as many times as it took for her to believe it.   
And she would have a conversation with Batwoman about kissing Sophie. Not that Julia could not understand her, but Kate couldn’t just kiss her ex and then vanish in thin air. This was screaming for trouble. 

12\. Supervillain

“Four men from Argentina have landed today in Gotham, all of them are connected with the Salasa Cartel. There are also four men from Mexico on their way to Gotham and you guess it correctly, they are members of the Cortez cartel. Something big in going on.”   
“Thanks.” Sophie took the coffee Julia handed her. Coffee, from the coffee shop opposite the HQ, not from the vending machine. “Something big is going on.”  
“Absolutely. We need eyes on these people and my gut feeling tells me, they are all meeting at the bar we were last night.”  
“Sounds like we are going out again.” Another undercover night. Sophie was not sure if she was nervous because of the potential big case they were on or because of what might happen between her and Julia. Would they blend in the same way they did last night? And would their night end the same way?   
“Yes. Poor us, another night in a club,” Julia smiled.   
“No movie night.”  
“No, not tonight.”   
“Can you imagine the Mexicans doing business with the Argentinians? I mean, usually they fight over every street.”  
“I know what you mean and my money is on, they are teaming up against somebody else. Somebody bigger. Or somebody really big made them team up for a mission. We might have to face an attack from them and somebody else. Somebody big.”   
“I don’t know,” Sophie sipped on her coffee, “You need somebody very powerful to get these two working together if they work together against their will. Who has this kind of power? Usually Gotham has smaller groups, that run the streets, fighting for another street to call their area. When somebody makes the big ones cooperate, this person has a lot of power. I can’t think of anybody with this power.”  
“Gotham is not short on criminals. What about the Joker?”  
“No,” Sophie shook her head, “the Joker has disappeared years ago and he was not working with drug cartels.”  
“Alice?”  
“She has her Wonderland gang, I can’t see her with the drug cartels. And I can’t see them bow in front of her, no matter how cruel she is. These guys are another league, she can’t just intimidate them. Plus, we have found a lot of dead members of the Wonderland gang. Somebody has killed them, one after another.”  
“Who?”  
“We haven’t figured that out.” It was something that made Sophie nervous. Whoever had killed the complete gang was a professional.   
“Batwoman?”  
“I don’t think so, she doesn’t kill, she leaves them for us or GCPD. To be honest, I think it’s a reason why Alice is still in Arkham. Somebody killed her gang, which means, somebody is after her too. She doesn’t want to get out of Arkham, it’s too dangerous. Otherwise she had joined Mouse, who is still a no show.”  
“I know, I checked in on that before I came back. We checked cameras around Arkham, there is nothing of him on it. If his cell wasn’t empty I’d say he has never left.”  
“Do you think he is still in Arkham?” Sophie asked, looking at Julia and forgetting for a second her own question because eyes and mind was focused on the sensual lips of the blonde, that ran over the coffee cup. Only hours ago these lips had been on her body and had made her feel so good.   
“Don’t escape prison, hide in it? Interesting theory.” Julia smiled like she had read Sophie’s mind and Sophie felt how she blushed. There hadn’t been an awkward silence between them, no they had prevented this by talking earlier, but hell, nothing could stop her mind from going back to last night every now and then and sending images of her and Julia to her inner eye.   
“Arkham is big enough and Mouse knows how to blend in.”  
“He know how to become anybody he wants when he has the face…which means, anybody there could be Mouse.” Sophie rose up and walked to the window, overlooking the Crows HQ. Mouse had made his way in her, disguised as Commander Kane and she hadn’t realized it until Kate had sent her a message and it was too late. How could they be sure Mouse was not somebody in here?   
“We can’t pull on the face of everybody to see if it’s their real face or not.” Julia’s lips were right next to Sophie’s ear as she had stepped closer to join her. Feeling her this close did make Sophie a little bit nervous. In a good way.   
“How can we make sure he is not among us?”  
“Feel free to check my face, but I doubt we can do that with everybody else here.”   
“He knows how to sound just like the person he impersonates, yet I doubt he gets this accent done as good as you do. Plus, I’m quite sure you are you and not him.”  
“How do you know?”  
“I feel it.” She felt tensions and they wouldn’t be there if the person behind her wasn’t Julia. “Fingerprints. He can’t fake them, when we have everybody checked by their fingerprints we know if Mouse is here. However, I doubt he is. With Alice in Arkham, he will be close to her.”  
“We should have the staff of Arkham checked. He either became one of them or is hiding somewhere in there. One way or another, he is free and a threat to the whole city.”  
“He won’t do anything without his queen,” Sophie said quietly, “Alice is the queen, not the Queen of Hearts, but the one, who runs the game. It’s like playing chess. The queen is the most valuable of all. The game might be lost when your king is gone, but when you lose your queen, your king is as good as lost. Unless your strategy is to lose your queen in order to strike back in way your opponent doesn’t expect you to.”  
“He won’t sacrifice Alice as in have her killed, but he might wants us to believe he sacrificed her by leaving her behind when in reality her staying there is a part of their plan.”   
“We must know what their plan is because I am sure, it’s nothing good. Alice sits in an asylum full of crazy killers, when she becomes their queen, she has a huge, highly dangerous army and when Mouse is out, they will take the same way he did and Gotham will drown in blood.”   
“So, where do we start?”  
“By talking to the Commander, asking him, what he wanted from Alice. And then we might have to take a trip to Arkham.” An idea Sophie did not like at all. Alice knew way too much about her, knew things, she hadn’t shared with others. Whenever she talked to her, she felt like Alice had the upper hand due to all the knowledge she had.   
But she came out to her mother, this was something the villain couldn’t use against her anymore. She had opened the door to her own prison and was no longer caught in there. 

13\. Secrets

Damn it. She had been close, so close. The journal had been there, it had been as good as in her hands and then it was gone. How the hell could a damn bartender know the journal was special? How could she know, it was important? Okay, you hook up with somebody, you end up without your money, your phone whatever, but an old journal? Reagan must have know it was important.   
How?   
Why?   
Who was she? And where the hell did she take the journal to? She had to find her, had to get the journal before somebody else got their hands on it.   
Julia closed her eyes for a moment. How had this all happen? How could everything just gotten out of hands?   
“Are you okay?” Sophie stepped closer.   
“Yeah. Just tired. Any news on Tommie Elliot?”  
“The body in the cell is not Tommy’s I was right on that. It’s another inmate and Tommy is gone - like Mouse.”  
“Two crazy psychopaths on the run. Great.” Had Tommy his hands on journal again? This couldn’t be an coincidence.   
“Alice is involved, this changing face thing is so her. We haven’t worked out which doctor is in on this.”  
“Have you checked them all.”  
“We’re working on it with GCPD.” Sophie looked at her. “What is going on with you?”  
“I’ve misplaced something that was important to me and I am trying to figure out where it might be.”  
“Anything valuable?”  
“An old journal from a relative, sentimentally valuable.”   
“Shall I help you search? Is it in your apartment?”  
Sophie in her apartment? As appealing as the idea was, Julia did not think it was a good idea. The last phone call her told her this much. On the other hand, a little bit of distraction might work wonders. And she did not want to explain why she was busy after work. It had been hard enough to come up with an excuse why she couldn’t join Sophie and Commander Kane to Arkham.   
“You could tell me why you have these bruises in your face,” Sophie added quietly.   
So much for makeup could hide your secrets. Either her makeup was not good enough or she was not talented enough in using it. The punches in the face had left traces and Julia had done her best to hide them. The thing was, Sophie stood very, very close to her.   
“I ran into something.”  
“Or somebody? Various times?”  
“Possible.”  
“I think we should talk.”   
No, not a good idea. Julia moved closer, her lips touching Sophie’s cheek. “I think we know better things to do with our lips.” She had to take Sophie’s mind of talking, talking was not a good idea.   
Sophie’s breath stopped for a heartbeat or two. “Maybe after we talked.”  
Ouch. She had lost the edge, the being irresistible part.   
“Or, we talk with the Commander because I have the feeling he might be interested in the door? Post? Or whatever you ran into, too,” Sophie whispered.   
“You won, we talk. Over decent burgers?” She had to take Sophie away from the Crow’s HQ to make sure nobody listened to them and she needed some time to come up with a good story, a story close to the truth and yet far enough from the truth to not endanger her mission.   
“Are you buying time?”  
“No, I’m going to buy the burgers this time.” Julia looked up and stopped.   
Kate.   
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse life proved you wrong. She and Sophie had stood way too close together to make Kate believe, they were talking about work stuff. And Kate had been suspicious when Julia and Sophie had exchanged messages the other night. That she mention Sophie had bravely come out to her mother surely hadn’t helped in making Kate believe there was nothing going on between Julia and Sophie.   
“Am I interrupting something?”   
“Nope, we are leaving. Are you here to see your father?” Sophie asked, trying too hard to sound like business as usual.   
She was doing a bad job, like Kate was doing a bad job pretending not to be jealous.   
“Who else would I want to see?”  
Julia shook her head slightly. This was not the way you should talk to the person you cared for more than for anybody else. Not that she would know anything about it. In this way.   
“He is in his office. How is Luke?” Julia asked.   
“Concerned. Apparently the murderer of his father escaped.”  
“Words got out fast,” Sophie raised her brows.   
“Don’t tell me you are surprised. Do you know where he is?”  
“Nope.”  
“We are looking for him, maybe your father knows more by now,” Julia said.   
“I’ll find out. Enjoy…working together.”   
“Thanks, we will.” Sophie walked to the exit, not looking at Kate.  
“We’ll find him. And it,” Julia mumbled when she walked past Kate.   
“When you have the time.”  
“It was not me, who lost it over a blonde, Kate.” No, she hadn’t forgotten about the journal because there was hot sex waiting for her. She had not fallen asleep, leaving the one thing, that could kill her, exposed to the world. No, she had made sure her traces were gone. And she better did not tell Kate she had killed two people or why she had done so.   
The bartender had been there when the Magpie showed up the first time.   
Sophie had been right and Julia had believed the other woman was only jealous. In reality Sophie had been smarter than them, she had known there was something wrong with Reagan. If they had listened to her, had be more careful, the journal wouldn’t be lost now.   
And Julia’s mission would be over sooner. 

14\. Half of the truth

“Spill it.” Sophie had tried to calm herself down on the way to her favorite burger place. Meeting Kate before they left had not helped to lighten up her mood. Why the hell did she care what Julia and she were doing? She had her blonde bartender, it had been obvious, that they had hooked up again and surely had done more than a walk under a sky of a million stars. So how dare she commenting on what might be going on between her and Julia? Not that there was anything going on, they worked together and might have extended their undercover job a little bit, this did not mean, Kate had a right to say anything.   
So yeah, this on top of Julia lying to her - or not telling her the complete truth - kind of ruined her mood.   
“I might have helped Batwoman last night.”  
Batwoman. Another woman, that made her heart ache. “How close are the two of you?”  
“Not as close as you and her were.”  
“I can’t remember she called me to help her.”  
“Did you? Help her? Work with her on a case?”  
“Yes.” It hadn’t been Batwoman’s idea, although, she had taken Sophie away from the van, away from the cops. Gosh, they had kicked ass together.   
“She knows I’m SRR, was SRR, knows I am not telling anybody when she needs backup.”  
Neither would she.   
“She also know, when she asks you, you risk your job and she knows how important your job is to you.”  
Sophie bit her lips. Yes, her job was important to her, but Batwoman…she was more important. “I can decide myself what or who is more important.”  
“I will let her know if she calls me again.”  
“So you ran into somebody’s fist a few times last night? Who was it?”  
“Somebody, who deals with organs. Organs harvest from living people. The traffickers? There were a bunch of people, who were supposed to be killed in Gotham to get their organs. Batwoman got in their way, but some escaped. We were there to get them.”  
“Where?”  
“The nightclub.”  
“Seriously? We were there and nothing happened, you go there and the action is on? What happened?”  
“They caught her, tied her up in chains. Their idea was to auction off part for part of Batwoman. Her weapon, her suit, her life. Gotham’s criminals were willing to pay a lot of money for her weapons and even more for her life. There was a room full of people all willing to kill her right on the spot.”  
“Is she…harmed?”   
“No, she is fine.”  
“Thank God.” If Commander Kane was a little bit more…open towards Batwoman, the Crows could support her when needed. And the other way around. Life could be easier and safer for all of them.   
“The Magpie was there, she stole something from Tommy.”  
“What?”  
“Well, to know what is missing in his safe I have to know what was in it in the first time. And you were right about Reagan.”  
“How?”  
“I’m not entirely sure what her part is, but she stole something from Kate.”  
“Kate woke up and valuables were gone?” What a classic.   
“Yes.”  
No wonder Sophie stayed out of this dating business, when you took strangers home, you never knew what could happen. You were better off with…a colleague. “No wonder Kate was so pissed.”  
“It might have also be because you and I stood closely together. I’m sure I’ll get some trouble for being this close to you.”  
“She has no right to tell you off.” Sophie could decide herself with whom she slept. Kate had no saying in this, she had not answered her text, not answered her call, had told her it was better when they stayed apart, kept a distance. Sophie did all these things and Kate just slept with somebody, who stole from her. Not wanting Sophie and Julia to hook up was…hypocritical.   
“Jealousy makes you forget using your brain.”  
“Jealousy? She slept with Reagan, she has no reason to be jealous.”  
“Because she believe she can’t have you.”  
“Stop it. Stop these Kate and I belong together theories, they are wrong. The last days made it more than clear, she has moved on and I… am not going to whine about something, that was in the past.” She had wanted to say, she had moved on too. It was a lie, one she couldn’t bring herself to say. No matter how she wanted to leave everything behind, she couldn’t and it made her angry. And she felt helpless.   
“We have to worry about our present and future. With Tommy gone, Mouse gone and Alice being the Queen of Arkham, we have more than enough on our hands. Tommy and Mouse are somewhere in Gotham, they won’t hide and stay quiet. Tommy has a lot of unfinished business, business, that will include Kate. He believe he gets his hands on her cousin through her. And Mouse is with Alice, they want to harm the Commander, maybe Kate and Mary too. These are problems we have to face and not if Kate is jealous or not.”  
“Wow, keep cool, I am not saying we should do whatever Kate wants us to do.”  
“Good. Because I have no intentions to. I want to do my job and do, what I want. It’s me, who has to deal with my decision and nobody else.”  
“Like coming out to your mother? You are the one, who has no contact to her mother.”  
“Exactly. I have to fix it somehow because I want my mother to be a part, I want her to love me, to be proud of me and because I told her the truth, she is disappointed.” And it made Sophie angry that after she had been so brave, after she had came out to her mother, after she had pulled off her mask, she hadn’t seen or talked to Batwoman anymore. It had been Batwoman, who started it and now she was gone.   
“Somehow people have a tendency to disappoint each other.” Like she had disappointed Kate back at Point Rock. 

15\. In the wrong hands

“If you want to cause a scene because of Sophie and me, do it now so we can move on to important topics,” Julia said when she walked into the Batcave. She expected comments because of what Kate had seen yesterday and because Kate’s mood had been bad anyway, she was sure the accusations would start right away.   
“Does she know you are not in for the long haul?”  
“Yes, I made that very clear.”  
“And she is fine with it?”  
“Apparently she needs somebody, who is there for her. As I told you, her mother does not talk to her anymore since she came out to her, somebody tried to kill her, she had lost her job for a while and from I have heard, her short encounter with Batwoman ended with being left behind.” Julia took a deep breath. She had no right to say these words, especially not being in the situation she was in. “How could you kiss her?”  
“I beg your pardon?”  
“You are Batwoman, you kissed your ex. I’m not worried that she might find out who Batwoman is, I’m worried about what it will do to Sophie. She came out to her mom because of you and then you vanish in thin air. You sent her a message after you killed Cartwright, but never bothered to answer her answer. Or her call.”  
“It appeared as if she found somebody else, somebody, who comforts her.”  
Julia rolled her eyes. “Don’t play jealous girlfriend, you didn’t come and check on Sophie only once after somebody tried to kill her, instead you let your ex take the one thing away, that might kill you. Reagan was there the first time the Magpie showed up and when the bird is back you don’t think twice when she shows up again? And greets you with arms - and legs - wide open?”  
“Stay out of my personal life, Julia.”  
“I would if your personal life did not get us into danger. Damn it Kate, the book was there and you let her take it. Have you talked to her?”  
“I did. While you and Sophie did whatever you did, I found Reagan. The Magpie is her sister and she needed the book.”  
“What for?” The Magpie was Reagan’s sister? Great, no wonder Reagan and Kate had hit it off, they both had psychopathic sisters. Their attraction to each other was not a surprise.   
“She didn’t tell Alice. The Magpie owned somebody a favor and that was the favor asked.”  
“The book was a favor? Well, that narrows the circle of people down.” There weren’t many people, who knew about the book. Tommy Elliot and Johnny knew about it, knew where it was. They didn’t know about Kate and Reagan…or wait, Tommy might have. And he had been in contact with the Magpie as they both had been in Arkham. Arkham, that was run by Alice.   
“Alice.”  
“What?”  
“Your sister is behind this.”  
“She is in Arkham.”  
“Yeah well, guess what, Mouse is gone, as your father might have told you, and her sitting there quietly, not making a fuss, means she knows where he is and she is in control. And this guy, who was supposed to be Tommy, but had only his face on, that’s Alice’s work. Your sister is after the book and I’m sure she released the Magpie.” Why hadn’t she realized this earlier? Alice was behind it, Alice was the one, who was after the book, it promised her to learn all the secrets to Batwoman and the Batcave. First, Alice got her hands on the only weapon, that could kill Batwoman and now she was holding the complete journal to all secrets in her hands. And unlike the first time, Alice would not keep the deadly weapons away from Kate this time. Kate had lost this privilege when she locked Alice up in Arkham.   
“Shit.” Kate sat down.   
“That sums it up pretty nicely,” Luke added. He had stood there quietly, only listen to their fight without joining in. “You locked her away, you betrayed her, she will come after you with this journal.”  
“Have you seen your dad’s journal?”  
“Do you think he read it out loud as a goodnight story?”  
“No, I asked if you have seen it, not if you know it.”  
“What I know is that he wrote it in code so Alice can’t just read it and use the secrets. Yet, she is not stupid, she can figure it out at one point.”  
Written in code, this gave them a little time. Again, Julia cursed Kate for being so careless and stupid. She had taken Sophie home and there had no been a tiny little bit of her secrets for Sophie to find. You did not just take somebody home, you only let somebody in your home, when you knew your secrets were locked away, safely at a place, your guest could not get her hands on it.   
“I have to see her.”  
“And do what?” Luke asked. “Tell her, to give you the journal? Do you think she will hand it over with a smile? Wrap it as a gift? She’ll take great pleasure in you coming to see her, asking for the book.”  
“She won’t have it in her cell,” Julia added, “it’s somewhere else. And don’t forget, we don’t know who Mouse is. He could be one of the guards and before you know it, you either have a knife in your back or are drugged and wake up somewhere else.”  
“This happened before.”  
“Then you get what I mean.” Julia rubbed her temples. The headache from the punches started again. Gosh, why did some people believe you told them your secrets when they slap you? It had been her luck he had been this stupid, the woman, on the other hand, had been something else. She knew her business. That was why she had to go.  
“I have the feeling I have to break into Arkham again,” Kate sighed.   
“Or you let me go in there, talk to Alice,” Julia suggested.   
“She won’t tell you where it is. Or where Mouse is.”  
No, Alice would not share her secrets with her, Julia knew this.   
“And when my father finds out you are there, he wants to know why you are after a journal. The book in his hands is not exactly an improvement. To him, Batwoman is the enemy.”  
“Yeah, I know that.” That was why she couldn’t take Sophie with her. Plus, she couldn’t risk that Sophie found out Kate was Batwoman. It was something Kate had to tell her herself. If they ever talked to each other again. 

16\. M.I.A.

Julia was gone, something was wrong. Sophie knew it. She also knew, she could not talk to Commander Kane about it. Something told her, there was more involved and that her Commander would not be of any help. Why her guts lead her to Wayne Tower was another story. Her subconscious had a tendency to send her to Kate, had a habit to reach our for her ex. Who was also Julia’s ex, which made the whole thing even more weird. And complicated. What did Julia know about Kate that Sophie no idea of? Because she felt, she knew, there was something both women were hiding from her? Were they more than the friends they pretended to be? Were they…lovers again? Julia had made it clear, she was not a woman for only one woman, yet it kind of hurt. And it also hurt that Kate might be back with her. So, who was she jealous of?   
“Sophie, hey.” There she was, sitting on the edge of her desk, a file in her hands. This was not how you expected a real estate agent to work. “You okay?”  
Was she really doing this? This was so awkward.   
“Honestly, trying to rein a little panic. Not to make this awkward.” Too late, it was already. “Or whatever. But have you seen Julia? She is M.I.A.”   
“I heard you two are hanging out.”  
That was one way of describing it. Hanging, making out. “Julia and me?” Nah, Santa and the Easter Bunny. “I guess you could say that.” Happiness looked different. Kate looked…disappointed? Hurt? Sad? “Because if it’s not, I’ll keep it platonic.” Which was crazy, they had crossed that line, however, the last thing she wanted to do was to hurt Kate.   
“Whatever makes you happy.”  
Kate swallowed. More than once and Sophie couldn’t look at her face because she was afraid whens he did, when she looked into Kate’s eyes, she would say something stupid. Something like, that she made her happy, that she wanted to be with her and Julia was only…a friend with benefits. Good benefits, but nothing compared to what they had.   
“If I hear from Julia I’ll tell her to check in.”   
Their eyes met and Sophie felt the sadness. She had to push it away. Kate had told her it was best for them to keep their distance from each other. She had moved on, she was with Reagan and over Sophie. You did not hook up with somebody twice when you weren’t into each other.   
“Would you ask Luke too? He was with her before she went radio silent.”  
“Luke?” Kate whispered the word. “Sure, I let them know.”  
“Thanks.” Sophie swallowed. She had said what she wanted to say, she could leave. There was no reason to stay here, to bother Kate and keep her from her work. Although, she had some very weird working hours.   
“I see you around.”   
“Bye Sophie.”   
With her head down she left the office. Damn it, she was…why was she a mess every time saw or talked to Kate? She had been so fine before Kate came to Lucky Town…okay, that was a lie, she had been living in a lie and felt miserable about it. And now she was lying to herself to make her feel better. Hadn’t she promised herself not to lie anymore? To be honest to herself.   
Sophie checked her phone. No message. Where was Julia? And what had Luke wanted? She should have asked Kate, maybe she had an idea what her associate wanted from Julia. Sophie understood they knew each other since they were kids, Luke’s father had been Julia’s godfather, but she doubted he came to see her at work to have a coffee and share some childhood tales.   
Was she doing the right thing? This thing with Julia, was it the right thing to do? Julia insisted all the time, Sophie belonged to Kate, did she say this because she believed it herself or because she wanted to protect herself because she believed, Sophie wanted Kate and Julia was only a stopgap? It was not normal to tell the woman you slept with, that she belonged to somebody else. Sophie was not an expert on sleeping with women, or men, or relationships, but she knew, it was not what you usually said. Had Julia’s disappearing anything to do with this?   
Or was it about Luke’s father? They had found the killer, they had arrested all the people, who had been involved in it, there was nothing else to do. But she would not disappear when it was something not urgent. Her phone was dead and…something must have happened.   
Maybe she had to call the Commander and tell him, Julia was missing.   
“What if Hush had anything to do with this?” Sophie mumbled. Julia had been with Luke and from what she knew, Luke’s father had been very smart, so he had to be smart too. Or the chances that he were, were high. Hush had kidnapped smart people for whatever reason. Was it possible Luke was his next victim and because Julia had been with him, she was kidnapped as well? Kidnapped and not shot, as he did the people in the library. At least Sophie told herself that Julia was not dead. She was smart too, maybe Hush used both for…whatever. It had to be something with codes.   
A code to a safe? A code to enter an Internet page? To hack into a system of a company? A government? The possibilities were endless. Was this all bigger than Gotham? Was this something, that might endanger the whole country?   
“Shit, Julia, where are you?” Could she hope for Batwoman? She had freed one hostage, Hush had taken. Maybe she could and would save Julia and Luke too. Because she still trusted Batwoman with these things more than she trusted her own team. And that was something, that would get her suspended or fired sooner or later. The words she exchanged with her Commander made it clear, he saw a villain in Batwoman. 

17\. The truth

Bloody hell, her day could have been better. Abducted why this walking mummy. Like a rookie. And he had almost fried her. Her training had kicked in, she knew how to suffer through torture, how to keep her secrets, the problem was, Hush did not care if she died or not. He also was not impressed when Luke and she had told him and Alice, they were not going to tell them what was written in the book or how to decrypt it. Gosh, he had her on the verge of kissing her life goodbye. Which was what her training had taught her to do. You die, you don’t tell your secrets. And if you do, you kill the person, who knows them. Like the interrogator, who had wanted to know for whom she was working. It had scared the shit out of her. Which was not a surprise.   
Julia walked down the hallway at the Crows and saw Sophie sitting on the stairs. She looked anxious, scared and miserable. You could fake a lot of things, her emotions were real. She had been scared, she had feared for Julia’s life and Julia was not sure it was a good thing. Whatever was happening between them, it shouldn’t get too serious or they both ended up hurt.   
“What’s the damage?” Sophie got up and walked towards her.   
“Well, my left hand is numb. There is some nerve damage in my arm, medics thinks I will heal eventually.” It could have been worse, she could be dead or have some brain damage. With only her left arm being effected by the torture, she called herself lucky. Although, it look weird, the way she held it. Like it didn’t belong to her.   
Sophie touched her wrist and let her fingers run softly over it, over her hand. Now, she did feel this. Or she believed she felt it because she saw it and liked it. Way too much. Their eyes met, a smile appeared on their faces, telling, they were both glad to stand right here. And then they both moved forward until their lips met for a soft kiss. Sophie kissed her in the hallway at Crows HQ. Not caring if a colleague walked up on them, saw them kissing. She had done great on coming out and being herself.   
“Sooner.” This could be the medicine she needed to heal sooner. At least she felt much better than after the pills they had given her.   
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Sophie said quietly, still staying close in Julia’s personal space, her eyes on her own.   
“Me too.” As she was glad Sophie closed the distance between them for another kiss. Gosh, she could get used to it. This was not a kiss because they pretended to be a couple, it was a kiss that was shared because they wanted it for their own sake. It was a sign of happiness, of relief and a promise to be there for the other one.   
Which could become a complication.   
When their lips parted - which took longer than for the first kiss - she saw the first complication. It wasn’t the one, she had on mind, yet they were linked.   
“Kate.”  
Sophie turned her head and instead of moving away from Julia, she stayed where she was. This was unexpected. Julia had thought, Sophie would move away.   
“Looks like a bad time,” Kate had her hands in the pockets of her jacket, not trying to show any emotions.   
“Hey,” Sophie’s eyes were on Julia, she barely looked at Kate. With a small nod she and Julia came to an agreement. “I’m going to go.”  
Julia nodded and let her…girlfriend? Walk away.   
Kate walked up to her, her eyes following Sophie shortly.   
“Luke told me everything.” Her hands were still in her pockets. Were they clenched? There were a lot of tensions around, Kate was full of tensions and Julia was sure, it was not only because she saw Julia and Sophie kiss.   
“He can’t have told you everything because he doesn’t know everything.” She had made sure of that. There were things, she did not want to share with him. Not because she didn’t trust him but because she wanted to protect him.   
“I know you were lying about why you are after a book that describes how to kill me.”  
Yes. Yes, she was and she knew, it was time to answer some questions. Things had changed and it was better when Kate knew who else was after the book.   
“The Rifle showed up in Gotham to assassinate you several months ago. I helped thwart him and he disappeared.” So far so good. Kate knew this part of the story. Now it was time to reveal the things she did not know. “Have you ever wonder why he never came back?”  
Kate looked at her like she wanted her to go on, tell her the whole story.   
“Because I followed him to his boss and made a deal with her to stop pursuing you. In exchange for your life, I’d fetch her the journal and we’d both be on our merry ways.” That had been the plan. One, Julia had been happy with. Until today.   
“If she had the journal she could still kill me,” Kate pointed out the obvious.  
“She played me. I didn’t know what the journal entailed until today. Now that I do, the deal is off.”  
“Who is she?”  
Great, the last time she told somebody, she had to kill this person.   
“Safiyah Sohail.”  
“Never heard of her.”  
Which was why Kate didn’t look shocked or scared. This name brought fear in people’s life.   
“Well, she has heard of you, Luv and now that I’ve double-crossed her, we both have targets on our backs.” Targets, that were more dangerous than any other targets they ever had on their backs.   
“Where is she?”  
“Usually in the Mediterranean Sea, you could say, she kind of a pirate. Which does not mean she won’t show up here or send her people.”  
“Alice has the journal, she will get after her.”  
“If we are lucky, yes. I know, she is your sister, but if Safiyah decides to get after Alice and not straight after us, consider us lucky to have a warning.”   
“So, what are your next steps? Are you running away?”  
“You don’t run away from her, it’s wasted time.”   
“Then you better stop lying and telling only half truths because we can’t have each other’s back when you do.”  
“What about Sophie? She might be at risk too.”  
“The way I see it, you are close to her, you can keep her safe.”  
Julia heard the bitterness in Kate’s words. She was not okay with her and Sophie kissing. This was an additional complication and she was not sure, it was a good idea to have additional complications in your life, when you had a target on your back. 

18\. How to kill Batwoman

“It’s not my business, but is everything all right between you and Kate?” Sophie caressed Julia’s naked arm. After a long, painful day, with more worries than usual, she was glad to be home and to have Julia in her arms. All she had wanted was to hold her, make sure she was all right. In the end, there had been more, but who was she to complain?   
“It will be.”  
“Is it because of us?” Had Kate told Julia off? Made a scene?   
“No, it has nothing to do with us, it’s…complicated.”  
A lot of things seemed complicated lately. “Okay.”  
“Reagan stole something from her and because I went after Reagan to get it back and didn’t tell her, she is mad. My methods might have been a little bit…marginal, yet there was no harm to anybody.”  
“She stole from Kate? Why?”  
“Because she and her lovely sister, we both know her as Magpie, choose rich people and steal from them. In their mind, they are doing the right thing, they are some kind of modern day life Robin Hood. So I went after her to get it back, it was a family heirloom, but Magpie had already traded it.”  
“Such a bitch.”  
“You were right from the beginning, you did not trust her.”  
No, she hadn’t trust her. It might have been due to her jealousy, she was not sure, and she wasn’t happy she had been right, yet it was good to know her guts were sometimes right. “Was she arrested?”  
“Kate decided not to call GCPD as it wouldn’t bring the thing back.”  
“She didn’t call GCPD because she didn’t want Reagan in trouble. As opposed to Reagan, Kate cared for her and her heart is too kind. It has always been her weakness.” She wished they’d live in a world where kindness was not a weakness. Unfortunately, it was exactly this. A weakness, people used to hurt you, to use you, to get what they wanted from you.   
“Whatever her reasons are, I doubt Reagan will get a second chance.”  
“I hope not.” She did not deserve it. “So how was your marginal?”   
“I held a knife to her throat to make her talk.”  
Okay, that was not exactly the way interrogation at the Crows was done. “Did you hurt her?”  
“Of course not. I wanted to scare her, make her talk. Well, what she had to tell me did not help, so why hurt her? It does not change a thing. I know how it feels when you are forced to give information, you don’t have.”  
Sophie stroke softly over Julia’s left arm. Yes, she did. She had been tortured and not only threatened. “What exactly did they want from Luke and you?”  
“Alice has a book, written in codes.”  
She had been right. It had something to do with codes. The kind of people, who had been abducted made this likely. “And she wanted you and Luke to decrypt it?”  
“Luke, yes. I was collateral damage, as I was with him and they figured, Luke might work better or faster when he sees how they torture me.”  
“Could he do it?”  
“No. Or yes, but he…we, decided, we are not going to tell them how to decrypt it or what the book said.”  
“You wanted to die for it? Why?” What could be worth dying for? What the hell had Alice done now? Where did she get her hands on? That was so dangerous, Luke and Julia were willing to die for?   
“It holds a secret, that would have been better kept.”  
“Which one?” What secret was worth dying for?   
“How to kill Batwoman.”  
Sophie blinked. What? Had she heard correctly? There was a book, that told people, who to kill Batwoman? The suit…bulletproof, as long as Batwoman wore the suit, she couldn’t be killed. “You can’t kill Batwoman. Her suit is…perfect.”  
“Nothing is perfect, Sophie. There was a weapon, that was designed to kill Batwoman and…you won*t like it. It was designed by Hamilton Technology, they had worked for years on a way to kill Batman, or, as he is not around anymore, Batwoman. Don’t ask me why, what Hamilton’s problem was or is with them.”  
“So…” Sophie remembered the evening Katherine Hamilton died. “When Katherine Hamilton died, she read out something, that was…weird, that was, as we found out later, written by Alice. Not all of it was wrong? Alice did write some truth?”  
“I’m afraid so.”  
Alice telling the truth and the wife of her boss being the bad one was a shock. “How far have gotten? With their weapon?”  
“They finished it. The bullet, that could penetrate the suit and kill Batwoman was designed and left the company. Alice got her hands on it.”  
“She can kill Batwoman?”  
“No, Batwoman got it, it’s destroyed and well, Alice had the men, who designed the bullet and the weapon, killed. Hamilton can’t design a new one. Now Alice has the book and the description how to kill Batwoman. Or Batman, if he shows up again. Luke found this out and we both agreed, we are not worth risking Batwoman’s life because the city needs her.”  
“You are worth as much as Batwoman,” Sophie kissed Julia. Scarifying herself to keep Batwoman safe was heroic. It was what differed real heroes from soldiers. Julia and Luke had been willing to die in order to keep Gotham safe. Today, they had done more for the city than Sophie had done in her entire career.   
“The city needs her.”  
“And the secret is safe?”  
“No, Batwoman found glasses, which make you read the code without a problem as soon as you put them on. Alice has the glasses and the book.”  
“Why? I mean, how could she steal them from Batwoman?”  
“She didn’t. Batwoman came to Arkham, as you know, and she came there to trade the glasses for Luke and my freedom. Alice let us live because Batwoman gave her the glasses.”  
Batwoman cared enough for Julia and Luke to risk her own life? She came freely to trade in the only thing, that can kill in order to keep Luke and Julia alive? Why? Yes, Batwoman saved people, but why was she willing to risk her life to save Luke and Julia? 

19\. Team Batwoman

Julia saw how Sophie was processing the news, how she tried to put them in an order, that made sense and how she tried to explain missing information. This woman was smart and she knew by only looking at her, there would be questions. Maybe it had been wrong to tell her these things, but she had to tell her something and if she had made up a story, Sophie had known it. Julia had to tell her parts of the truth and hoped, she could keep Sophie away from the thought, who Batwoman was. If Julia knew her.   
“Why does she trade her life for yours and Luke’s? I’m not complaining, but how did she know you were there and why did she give up the glasses?”  
There. There were the first questions, she did not want to answer. The first questions, that would bring more questions and with them, complications.   
“It’s what she does, she saves people.”  
“You know her. How well do you know her?”  
“Sophie, I can’t tell you. I’m sorry.”   
“Is it Kate?”  
Damn it. Now she had only two possibilities: she either gave up Batwoman’s cover or lied to Sophie.   
“Sophie, you have to ask her yourself. I told you, it’s not mine to tell. I am not going to tell you who she is like I won’t tell you, who is not her. You can come up with as many names as you want, my answer will always be the same: it’s not mine to tell.” This was the best she could do. She couldn’t tell Sophie the truth, she had to protect both of them.   
“If it’s Kate, why didn’t she tell me? Because I went to her father and told him, Kate is Batwoman, she doesn’t trust me.”  
“The Commander turned on the Bat sign.”  
“He did? I saw it and wondered, you had turned on. Why? And how do you know?”  
“I went there to see, who was calling her. He blamed her for what happened in Arkham, for all the criminals in Gotham. Said, it’s her fault Alice is here and when he sees her again, it’s war. He wants her out of the city.” Julia wondered what the Commander said when he learned his daughter was Batwoman. Somehow she had problems to believe, he’d accept it and give her space to help. He seemed to be more the kind of guy, who goes crazy and forces Kate to stop.   
“Alice was here before Batwoman was. She had caused a lot of problems in Gotham, Batwoman showed up when…I was kidnapped.”  
Julia watched Sophie. The last sentence was important and it was the best indication for who Batwoman was. Kate came back because Sophie was abducted and then Batwoman show up.   
“He blames her like he blamed Batman.”  
“Batman did not save his wife and Beth.”  
“He also did not send the car over the edge.”  
“No, but…the Commander is deaf when it comes this. Like Kate blamed herself for years that she couldn’t save Beth.”   
“That’s the difference: she blames herself for something, that is not her fault and he blames other for something, that is not their fault.  
“I have a feeling, I’ll have a disagreement with our boss soon. I told him today, I don’t want to fight with him about what he believes Batwoman’s intentions are and what I believe they are. They found a batarang on the bridge, where Batwoman rescued the kidnapped teenager and he made out of it, people were at risk because she threw them. I have never seen her miss her target and when we shoot, our bullets can endanger civilians as well.”   
Sophie was so passionate when it came to Batwoman, yes, she would get in trouble with the Commander sooner or later because the way Julia saw it, if push came to shove, Sophie chose Batwoman over the Crows. Not that she wouldn’t do the same.   
“You do know, you might not only get suspended the next time you help Batwoman and the Commander finds out.”  
Sophie swallowed. “Yes.”   
No: I won’t let him down, I will not help her. She was not even trying to pretend, she would choose the Crows over Batwoman. It was time to reassure her it was the right decision. “I’d rather be suspended or fired than have Batwoman unmasked or in the hands of Commander Kane. She is exactly what this city needs and if I can help her, support her, in any way, I will do it.”   
Sophie smiled. “I guess, we’ll get suspended or fired together.”  
“We will and I’m fine with it. Because you know why? We do what feels right for us. We do, what we believe in and that is what you always should do. I’m happy to follow rules as long as these rules are right. Declaring war on Batwoman is wrong, it can’t get more wrong than this. So if we end up suspended or fired, we are going to find something, that works better for us. It’s not like we don’t have any skills.” And leaving Gotham could be helpful with target on her back. Which brought back the thought of telling Sophie about the possible threat. She was in this too, when Safiyah found out Sophie mattered to her and Batwoman, she was the perfect bait.   
“What’s up? What thought crossed your mind? Your facial expression went from smile to concern within a second,” Sophie asked.  
This woman was good, she was observant and well, she had made the decision for Julia about when to tell her about Safiyah. The question was, how could she tell her without telling her, she had lied to her about being British Intelligence. So far Sophie believed the Crows had recruited her from the the European agency and had no clue, that she had been fired there. And the reason would bring them back to why Julia cared so much about Batwoman and the woman, who was behind the mask.   
“You won’t like it.”

20\. The (almost) whole story

Something else she would not like? What else had happened today? How many bad news could one day have?   
“This seemed to be the topic of the day. The only news I liked were when I heard you are fine. More or less.” Alive. Sometimes, it was good news when somebody was alive.   
“I’m sorry.”  
“Well,” Sophie pulled Julia into her arms and kissed her gently. “I am more happy about you are back and alive than I am worried about what has happened. Or the fact that Alice and her friends are still free.”   
“Alice is not the biggest problem.”  
“She is not?” The last months looked different. Alice was the biggest and longest lasting threat Gotham had experienced.   
“Have you ever wondered why Alice’s henchmen did not try to get her out of Arkham? Why they have been quiet and nobody has seen them for a while?”  
Now that Julia mentioned it. Yes, it had been quiet and there had been no attempt to get Alice out of Arkham. So, what happened to the Wonderland gang? “Now I do. Where are they?”  
“They are all dead.”  
Sophie blinked. All dead. How was that possible? They had tried for months to catch or kill these guys and out of the blue they were dead? “How?”  
“Have you ever heard of Safiyal Sohail?”   
“Who is that? Another psychopath killer?”  
“You could say that, yes. She comes from a place called Coryana?”  
“It’s an island, not a good place for a vacation as it holds modern pirates and their leader is Safiyah Sohail.”  
“And she killed the Wonderland gang?” What was a pirate from wherever doing in Gotham?   
“She had them killed, she had people working for her here in Gotham.”  
“Who?” Why felt it like all criminals in the world met in Gotham? What was it about the city that attracted killers from all over the world? Pirates. Gotham did not even have a real harbor, leave alone a Caribbean climate.   
“When I heard that there was a bounty on you, I came to save you.”  
“She had nothing to do with the bounty?”  
“No, she was not the one, who wanted to pay for your death, but it came in handy for her. She sent me to save you.”  
Julia was sent by a pirate to save her? “You lost me here.” Why would a pirate want her alive? How did this pirate even know her?   
“I told her who you are and we agreed, saving you was a good thing.”  
“Well, thank you.” Although it did not sound like it was just what Julia had said. It sounded like there was more to it and that Sophie would not like the additional information.   
“I wanted to save you because of Kate, she wanted me to save you because it was a good reason for me to show up in Gotham again.”   
“Because?” Sophie wished Julia would reveal the whole story at once and not make her poke for information sentence after sentence.   
“Because she sent me after the book, that is now in Alice’s hands.”  
“You came here to get a book, that reveals how to kill Batwoman? And you agreed with this?” Sophie moved away, shocked about what she had just heard. Julia wanted somebody to be capable of killing Batwoman? How could she say, she was team Batwoman when she planned to do this?   
“Back then, I had no idea what is in the book, I learned about it today. That was why Luke and I decided we’d rather be dead than have anybody the power to kill Batwoman.”  
“Why does this woman want the book?”  
“I have no idea, like I have no idea why she cares about what Batwoman does here in Gotham.”  
“So, how did you get in contact with her?” Julia worked as an agent for British Intelligence, how and why was she doing a side job for a pirate? And how was her agency cool with this?   
“I followed the guy, who tried to kill Batwoman with the weapons designed by Hamilton. She is his boss, so I made an agreement with her: she keeps her killers away from Batwoman and I get her the book.”  
“What did your agency say about it?”  
“They fired me.”  
“Wait. I thought you were recruited…”  
“Jacob Kane never talked to somebody from the agency, he talked to a friend of mine, who sent me to work with the Crows. It gave me a chance to look for the book.”  
“So, this is all a lie?” Sophie moved away from Julia. She had used her. To get this book. She had played her and the whole team.   
“No, not all. I care for you, Sophie, that is not a lie and I care for Batwoman.”  
She cared for her and had lied to her. The whole time. She had…they had…  
“I did not sleep with you to get information or to keep my cover,” Julia said, reading her mind.   
“This seems hard to believe right now.”   
“What happened between the two of us did not get my any closer to the book. This is because of us and not because of anybody else.”   
She wished she could just believe the words. “You lied to all of us.”  
“I know.”  
“So, what is your plan now? As you don’t have the book and apparently don’t want to give it to this Safiyah pirate.”  
“Honestly? All I want to do is survive. I crossed her, this puts a target on my back. Safiyah or her men will show up in Gotham, sooner or later. I doubt we’ll be happy and she goes after Alice, gets the book and leaves. When she arrives, a lot of people will lose their life. And…you have a target on your back too, Sophie.”  
“Thanks to you.” Julia lied to her and now somebody might want her dead. She had just got her life back from the last criminal, who wanted her dead.   
“And thanks to the fact Batwoman cares for you.”  
“Nobody knows.” And it was over. Batwoman did not care for her anymore.   
“Sophie, Safiyah knows things we believe, she has no clue about. I have no idea how she knows about the book or what is written in it, but she does. She might have a contact person at the Crows, who could have told her why you were suspended.”  
“She does not care for me anymore. Since we…since she told me, it can’t work out between us, she hasn’t talked to me.”  
“Which has nothing to do with the fact, she cares for you. Believe me, if you are at risk, she will be there to make sure, you are fine.”  
And that might get her killed. Sophie might be used to lure Batwoman into a trap and then have her killed. Just when you thought the day got better, you heard news, that made the day worse than it was before. 

21\. Preparing for the battle

Julia knew after talking to Sophie last night, she had lost the trust, the other woman had in her before their conversation. No matter how she tried to explain her reasons, how she tried to show Sophie, she was on her side, on Batwoman’s side, Sophie had closed down and their relationship was over. A part of Julia understood this, understood why Sophie was hurt and disappointed. The thing was, even if she could, she would do the same again. Maybe without them getting naked, because this only added more problems.   
“Hey.” She walked into Kate’s office, glad to see the other woman at her desk.   
“Are you not in your bird’s nest or have they fired you as well?”  
Somehow everybody was mad with her. “I told Sophie about Safiyah Sohail.” There was no reason to beat around the bushes, Kate was not in the mood for a conversation.   
“What?”  
And her mood just dropped. “I told her about Safiyah Sohail.”  
“Why the hell did you do that?”  
“Because Safiyah has people everywhere, if there is somebody at the Crows working for her, she might know Sophie’s weakness for Batwoman and nice versa. This puts a target on her back as well. Plus, people might have noticed Sophie and I were closer lately, it only adds to the possibility of her becoming a target.”  
“How did she take it?”  
“She kind of kicked me out of her life. Private life. For lying and working against Batwoman.”   
“I can’t blame her.”  
“I don’t blame her, I only want her to be safe.” And because people hated her already, there was no reason not to add something to this. “Also, I heard your conversation with your father. That he blames Batwoman for what happened at Arkham and declared war.”  
“You were following us? Listen up on us.”  
“I wanted to know who turned on the signal, it could have been a trap.”  
“Well, my father wants me out of the city.”  
“He wants Batwoman out of the city, not you.”  
“Do you believe he changes his mind when he knows I am her?”  
The positive thing to say was yes, her father would change his mind when he knew, Kate was Batwoman. “No, he’d get furious, demand you stop being her and make her disappear.” This was the truth and it sounded horrible.   
“So I better try to stay out of the Crows way. I don’t need these complications with Alice on the run, a description on how to kill me in her hands and another psychopath coming here because she believes I need to be killed.”   
“You should know, Sophie and I are willing to get suspended or fired in order to protect Batwoman.”  
“I’m touched.”   
Sarcasm was dripping from every word.   
“Seriously, Kate. I did not decide to die for the sake of the secret. Not entirely. If Batwoman was somebody else, I had not cared this much.”  
“Why do you lie to me all the time?”  
“Twice.”  
“Two major lies, Julia. How am I supposed to trust you anymore?”  
“How about the first lie was because Bruce wanted you to be safe and the second was to keep you alive? I lied because I wanted you to be well. The Rifle came close to killing you, I didn’t want others to follow, try their luck. You have enough on your hands in Gotham and don’t need extra problems from somewhere else,” Julia took a deep breath, “you should also know, that Alice knows Safiyah.”   
“What?” Kate put the file down and walked over to her drinks.   
“Remember when she poisoned your stepmother and Mary? She got the antidote from Safiyah.”  
“Great, Alice has pirate friends.”  
“I’d not call them friends. Safiyah had Alice’s henchmen killed. That is why they haven’t been seen in a while. They are all dead.”  
“How do you know? Did she tell you?”  
“I killed them and left a message for her. From Safiyah.”  
“She mentioned, she wanted Mouse out of Arkham to flee the city because somebody, she had wronged in the past, had killed her henchmen,” Kate mumbled more to herself than to Julia, “so you killed them.”  
“I did and then I went to get Sophie out of the line of fire. Seeing her name on the bounty list, I knew I had to hurry and well, it gave me a good excuse why I was in Gotham.”  
“You mean, you did not have to lie again?”  
“I didn’t have to lie about why I was here because I came to save her, because I know how important she is to you. And well, yes, it got me closer to the journal. Or so I thought. Knowing what’s in it made me drop my plan. The thing is, Alice can use the journal in exchange for her life if Safiyah settles for that. But honestly, I believe she won’t go for a deal, she will kill her.”  
“What did Alice do to her?”  
“I did not ask for details, sometimes it’s better to know less.”  
“She was scared when she told me, she wanted to flee the city and also refused to tell me why and who was after her.”   
Which proved her last point, that sometimes it was better to know less. “We both know it was Lucius Fox, who created the batsuit and everything. Do you think Luke is ready to follow his father in his footsteps and make the suit safe?”  
“I hope he is, because from what I’ve heard lately, there is a lot of trouble coming to Gotham.”  
“There is, yes.” Julia stepped closer to Kate. “I am with you on this, no likes, no games. It might not be enough, we’re up against one big, bad woman. Be careful. Please. And always remember: no matter what happened, Batwoman has backup.”  
“I’d rather have you and Sophie stay out of this.”  
“Sorry Luv, that’s not gonna happen. Bruce wanted me to keep you safe, that’s what I do and Sophie…she will never let Batwoman down. She means too much to her.”   
“I wonder what she thinks and says when she learns who Batwoman is.”   
Julia smiled. “She’ll wonder how she could not have recognize your lips when you kissed.”   
“Well, that was something I wondered too. Apparently, my lips are not memorable.”  
“Quite contrary, Luv, they are. She’s just too blind to see.” At the moment. Julia was afraid, with every day Sophie got a step closer to the truth about Batwoman. 

22\. Batwoman vs The Crows

If it wasn’t for her, my wife’s killer would still be in Arkham.   
Yes, Commander Kane blamed Batwoman entirely on the fact that Alice was free and gone. That this was not true did not bother her commander. Sophie could feel how the tensions rose, how something big was coming up and she had no idea how to stop it.   
“Hey.”  
There was her next problem. Julia. Since the blonde had told her her true intentions, Sophie had tried to keep her out of her life unless she had to spend time with her at work. How could she explain to Commander Kane why she did not want to work with Julia anymore. Or at least needed a break.   
“Before you leave, please, hear me out.”  
She liked the leave part more. “So you can tell me the truth or another lie?”  
“I thought you’d know how it feels when you have to tell lies in order for a greater good.”  
Bang. That had hit. Julia had used Sophie’s past to make her point ant it made her incredible angry; mostly because the blonde was right. Sophie had lied to everybody for years, because she had, her own mother was not talking to her. So who was she to blame Julia for her lies? Lies, that were told to protect Batwoman. At least it looked like this.   
“Are you on a mission for the greater good again?”  
“I’m on a mission to keep Batwoman alive. One of Safiyah’s men arrived in Gotham and I’m sure he won’t be the only one.”  
“So? You know her, give her a call, warn her.” What was Sophie supposed to do? She had no idea who Batwoman was and how to reach her. Except when you turned on the signal.   
“Soph, please…we…”  
“Team! Out now. To the football stadium!”   
The voice of the commander was loud and Sophie did not waste any time. Something was going on and whatever it was, it was urgent.   
“Possible sight of Alice, I want her down.”   
Shoot to kill. She had given the same order herself, weeks ago. Back then, Batwoman had asked her not to kill Alice and she had done as she was asked. The Commander, on the other hand, would not hesitate and shoot - and then arrest Batwoman.   
Sophie rushed out to the car. When Alice was there, Batwoman might be there as well and then she had to be there, stop her Commander from making a mistake.   
“You know when Alice is there, it’s possible that Safiyah is there too.” Julia slipped on the passenger’s seat.   
“Another reason to get there as fast as possible. She wants to kill Batwoman.”  
“She also might want to kill us.”  
“I’m willing to risk it.”  
“Me too, otherwise I’d not be here.”  
“Call her.”  
“What?”  
“Call her, tell her, there might be a threat.” If this woman was as dangerous as Julia tried to make her believe, Batwoman had to know about it. And she did not care that Julia wanted to keep it a secret, who she was. 

Apparently, Batwoman hadn’t answered her phone, which could mean, she was sound asleep - after all, most times, she was fought at night - or that she was at risk. Somehow, Sophie’s guts told her it was the second one.   
They hadn’t been the first to arrive at the stadium, dozens of other vans had parked there and there were agents everywhere, getting into the stadium.   
Sophie followed them and saw somebody lying on the ground. Somebody, in red clothes. And in the middle of the field was Batwoman, surrounded by the commander and a dozens other agents. They all had their weapons pointed at her.   
“Shit!” Sophie ran towards them, Julia next to her.   
“What are you doing?” For somebody, who had a dozen weapons pointed at her body, Batwoman was very relaxed.   
“I promised you war. This what it looks like.”   
“Don’t!” Sophie stopped.   
“Stay out of this or you are fired, agent Moore.”  
Not suspended. Fired. Her career was about to be over when she did, what she wanted to do. And this time, her boss surely wouldn’t change his mind within a few days. When she decided to stand up against him, support Batwoman, her time as a Crow was over. For good.   
“She is not the enemy.”   
“I said, stay out of it.”  
“Sorry.” Sophie walked through her colleagues and right next to Batwoman, “I can’t let you hurt her.”   
“She is not our enemy, Sir,” Julia said and stood on the other side of Batwoman, “we have other problems, Batwoman is not one of it.”  
“You are both fired.”  
“You can fire me, but I won’t let you arrest her. You have no right to do so.”  
“I can fight my own fights,” Batwoman said.   
“Yes, you can, but you are not fighting them alone.” Somehow, this reminded me of the evening, when Kate had met Alice and stood between her and her father, telling him, he was about to shoot his own daughter. Kate had refused to get out of his way, she had stood her ground.   
Sophie looked at her boss. She was standing her ground and…  
A loud explosion made them drop on the ground. A part of the stadium grandstand came down and dust covered them. Somebody had blown up a part of the stadium. Sophie had her weapon out, still on the ground, looking for the threat. Beside her was Julia and…Batwoman was gone. How had she escaped?   
“She’s gone, find her!” Commander Kane yelled, “and find out what happened.” His eyes were on Julia and Sophie. “You two, out. You are no longer Crows. You are a disappointment, Agent Moore.”   
Sophie swallowed. A disappointment. Her mother thought the same about her and how her boss, who had always believed in her, said the same. She had been honest and it had cost her her career.   
“This time, there won’t be another chance.”  
“I’m sorry, but…she is not our enemy.”  
“You are not a part of the team anymore, Moore. Get out of here.” He turned and ran towards where the explosion had happened.   
“We better get out of here,” Julia said, taking Sophie’s arm to guide her away, “he won’t change his mind.”  
“What if Batwoman.”  
“The man on the ground worked for Safiyah Sohail. If she is not in Gotham yet, she will be here soon. Unless you want Batwoman to choose between her life and ours, we get out of here and somewhere safe.”  
Julia had a point. Sophie swallowed, looked at her former colleagues and left. It was time to pack her things and leave the Crows. For good. 

23\. You are my destiny

She didn’t want company, Julia had offered to stay with her, Sophie told her, she wanted to be alone. They had packed their belongings and left the HQ before the others returned. Sophie had no idea if Batwoman had shown up again, if Commander Kane had threatened her again, maybe even caught her and arrested her. As there was nothing about on the news, she thought, the latter one hadn’t happened. There were stories about the stadium, in the end it had been a small part, that was blown up. It had caused more dust than damage.   
Sophie had packed a bag and was insecure if she should leave soon or wait. The question was, what was she waiting for? Commander Kane would not change his mind, he wouldn’t call her again and if he did, he did it to tell her, she had blown it, she had ruined her career and had disappointed him. Again.   
So, where to go now? As Gotham seemed to be a dangerous for her to be. She had no idea what Julia’s plan was and frankly, she did not want to know. Julia had gotten them into this. Okay, that was not true, she had refused to give a journal about how to kill Batwoman to a psychopath and now this psychopath wanted her dead. Like she wanted Batwoman dead and as Sophie knew both of them, she was a potential victim of this woman, too.   
A noise on her balcony made her take her gun. She hadn’t switched on the lights, sat in the darkness of her living room. If she wasn’t mistaken, she had heard this sound before, but she did not want to risk anything.   
“You can put down the gun, it’s me.”   
Batwoman. She had been right, it had been the sound of Batwoman zipping onto the balcony. The last time she had done this, they had kissed and then her mother had ruined everything. As she had changed her locks, her mother could not show up tonight. Not that Sophie believed she would, she still did not talk to her.   
“Are you all right?” Sophie got up and stopped when Batwoman walked into the living room. She could barely see her.   
“I’m fine. Why have you done it? Why have you risk your job?”  
“Because you are not the enemy and the Commander has no right to arrest you or hold you at gunpoint. The city needs you, more than it needs the Crows.”  
“You lost your job.”  
“I don’t regret what I did. I did what I believe is right.” She stepped closer to Batwoman and realized, how much she had missed her. “We need to get the journal back.”  
“I’ve got it.”   
Batwoman got the journal back? Finally some good news. “That’s good. Yet, Julia said, there is somebody else…”  
“Safiyah Sohail. She wants the journal, too.”  
“Can’t you just burn it?” When it was burnt nobody know how to kill Batwoman.   
“No, it contains other, important information. Sophie, you should not have given up your job.”   
“I couldn’t let him…them…hurt you.” They moved moved closer and closer until their were only inches away from each other. The urge to get closer was strong, Sophie wanted to kiss Batwoman, wanted to be in her arms and feel for a moment like the world was fine.   
“It’s not easy to hurt me.”   
“Yes, your suit is pretty safe, yet, it does not protect you from everything and everybody.” Sophie let her hand ran over Batwoman’s arm, feeling the material of the suit. Could she feel this? Or was the suit made to keep the pressure of the hand away?   
“We all can get hurt in more than one way.”  
“Yes. No suit can help all the time.” Batwoman took her hand. “Where is Julia?”  
“I don’t know, I told her, I don’t want to see her. She…I know it’s wrong because…she lied why she was here and who she was working for, yet when she found out, what she was supposed to do, she decided not to do it. She was willing to die to keep your secret a secret. But…I feel like…” Like she had used her. Sophie could not get the thought out of her head, that Julia slept with her because she wanted to get information or make her mission easier. It was wrong and in her head, she it wasn’t this way, her however, saw it different.   
“Like she betrayed you?”  
“Yes.”  
“I heard, the two of you are…close.”  
“Friends with benefits was, what we called it. I thought it’s a good idea, no harm, she wanted something light, something, that was not serious and I…I tried to get over the one I really want with her.”  
“Did it work out?”  
“No, not at all.” How could she ever get over her only, real love? How could she ever forget the only, who had ever made her truly happy?   
“Does she make you happy?”  
“Not in the way you made me happy.” She had to do it, she had to say it or she’d hate herself for not doing so. “Kate.” It had to be Kate. The way Batwoman swallowed when she asked about her and Julia was the same reaction Kate had when she found out there was something going on between Julia and Kate.   
Before she could get an answer Sophie closed the distance between her and Batwoman and kissed her. Kate’s lips. How could not have recognized them earlier? These were Kate’s lips, she remembered them, remembered how they made her happy.   
“You took off your mask, I guess it’s time for me to take off my mask, too,” Batwoman said when their lips parted.   
“You don’t have to, I know it’s you. From the moment you saved me from the fall, my heart told me, it’s you. You could fool my head but not my heart.”   
“No more lies.” Batwoman took off her mask. In the little bit of light, that came into the living room from the outside, Sophie saw enough to know, she had been right. It was Kate. Her heart had been right.   
“At least not to the people you can trust. I’d not suggest you tell your father who Batwoman is.”   
“He made it clear what he thinks of her. And you lost your job because of Batwoman and I’m afraid this time he won’t ask you back.”  
“No, he won’t. It’s okay, I’m…I can identify with Batwoman, agree with what she does and as long as your father is this stubborn, I can’t agree with the Crows.”  
“I’m glad to have you on my side, Sophie.” Kate pulled her into her arms and kissed her.   
She had her completely. Finally knowing Kate was Batwoman made her be Team Batwoman even more. And she was glad, she had Kate back. The only one, she ever wanted. 

***

This was how it felt when it was right. Sophie exhaled happily and smiled, pulling Kate closer into her arms. This was how it was supposed to be when you were with your soul mate, when you were with the one, you were supposed to be with. The real deal and not friends with benefits, stopgaps or alibi relationship.   
Kate opened her eyes and smiled when she saw Sophie. It was in the middle of the night, Sophie had no idea what the time was, and frankly, she did not care. All she cared for was the woman, who was next to her. Naked, gorgeous and perfect.   
“Are you all right?”  
“I can’t remember the last time I felt better or happier than I feel now.” It must have been back at Point Rock, before their relationship had been discovered. Back, when they believed nothing could tear them apart.  
“Me neither. And I can’t get myself to leave the bed.”  
“Who says you have to?”  
“Batwoman needs to take care of the city. She was gone for a week not too long ago.”  
“Yeah, that was a bad time. Where had you been? It was after you sent me this message in the middle of the night.”  
“I was unsure if I could continue being Batwoman.”  
“Why?” Kate had done an amazing job, why would she not continue with it? “Is it because of Safiyah Sohail?”  
“No, I only heard about her recently. There are a few things, you don’t know, things I’m not proud of and I’ll tell you about them when the time is right. It was more a family problem.”  
“You mean, your sister wants you dead and your father hates your alter ego?” Sophie kissed Kate’s forehead. It couldn’t be easy for her with the problems, she was facing. The amount of people, who were after her, seemed to grow every day.   
“For example, yes. And…I was stupid, like really stupid and it’s kind of my own fault that Alice has the journal. No, it is my fault.”  
“How?”  
“Reagan took it. When I woke up, she was gone, with the journal and when I found her, she had given it to her sister, Magpie, who gave it to my sister, Alice.”  
So Julia had been right, Reagan had stolen from Kate. “I’m sorry.”  
“Not your fault.”  
“No, but she disappointed you and well, I think you had more than your fair share of disappointments from women in your life. Lied to you.” She had not been an exception.   
“You could say so, yes. Some lied twice to me.”  
“Like Julia.”  
“Yes.”  
“She is on your side.”  
“I know. And I can use every help. The guy today was only the beginning of what Safiyah has planned for me. I have no idea who she is, why she wants me dead. All I know, she’ll come here and that Alice is afraid of her.”  
“Which means, this woman must be dangerous.” Alice was not easily scared.   
“Yes.”  
“We’ll keep each other safe,” Sophie kissed Kate, “no matter what, I am on your side.”  
“Mine or Batwoman’s?” Kate smiled.   
“As you are her, your side.”  
“Aren’t you mad that I did not tell you it’s me when we kissed on the roof? Or on your balcony?”  
“No.” No, she had thought about it earlier, but Kate had done the right thing. “You had offered to take down your mask, but reminded me of the consequences if you did. You had a point and well, it made me come out to my mother.”  
“I’m sorry I was not there be there for you.”  
“This time taught me a lot of about myself, about stand up to other and to stand up for myself. It was painful, but it was worth it. I’m stronger now and nobody can blackmail with my sexuality anymore.”  
“You kissed Julia in the Crows HQ, you are so out,” Kate smiled.   
“I did and well, when I saw you there, I wanted to apologize for it. You had given me your blessing and there was no reason to apologize, yet…I think when I asked you if it’s okay that Julia and I meet, I wanted you to tell me not to do it.”  
“Believe me, I wanted to say I’m not okay with it, but I didn’t want to be in your way.”  
“You are not in my way, you are my destiny.”  
“Looks like you have reached your destination, then.”  
“I have.” Sophie kissed Kate and pulled her closer. She was where she had always wanted to be, with the woman, the only person, she had ever truly loved. And this woman would not leave the bed tonight. Sophie was sorry, but Gotham had to survive a night without Batwoman and Sophie was sure, Kate could use this little break after what had happened at the stadium. They all needed a few hours to rest and gain new power for what was coming for them.   
Safiyah Sohail, they would be ready to take on this pirate. Together, they would win against this villain as well.


End file.
